LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



(Jhap.__?^- Copyrig-ht No. 
Shelf /__v4_^ 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



A SMALLER 

HISTORY OF ROME 



Sir WILLIAM SMITH, D.C.L., LL.D. 



NEW AND THOROUGHLY REVISED EDITION 
BY 

A. H. J. GREENIDGE, MA. 

Lecturer and Late Fellow of Hertford College 
Lecturer in Ancient History at Brasenose College, Oxford 



BROUGHT DOWN TO 476 A.D. 
BY 

G. MIDDLETON, MA. 

Late Lecturer in Latin in the University of Aberdeen 
AND 

F. M. COLBY, M.A. 

Formerly Professor of Economics, New York University 



NEW YORK . : • CINCrNNATI • : • CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 



51059 



SEP 24 1900 

S£COND COfy. 

0(iOi<t OtViSION, 
OCT 1 1900 



Copyright, 1900, by 
American Book Company 

w. p. I 

t> 0!o o. 



^^'i^" 



PEEFACE. 



In this new edition of the " Smaller History of Rome " care 
has been taken not to alter any of the essential characteristics 
which have long made this book such a valuable instrument 
of education. Its original proportions have been, as far as 
possible, preserved, and no special department of history has 
been allowed to curtail the space which was due to others. 
Such alterations as those which deal with the original populations 
of Italy and the constitutional arrangements of Rome, are merely 
the inevitable result of the progress of recent historical research 
in these directions. 

Throughout the work the language has been simphfied as 
much as possible, and the quantities of names, where necessary, 
have been added in the index. 

All the maps and a large proportion of the illustrations have 
been specially prepared for this edition. Some of the latter 
were suggested by the editor ; but whatever merit this feature 
of the work may possess is due far more to the publishers than 
to him. 




Julius Caesar. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

The Peoples of Italy. 



Page 

Position of Italy 1 

Its boundaries 1 

Its two Divisions 2 

The name " Italia " 2 

1. The Gauls 2 

2. The Ligurians 3 

The Veneti 3 

3. The Etruscans 3 

4. The Italian races 4 

The Unibrians 5 

The Volscians 5 

The Aequians 5 

The Hernicans 5 



The Sabines 5 

The Picentines 5 

The Paeligni and neighbouring 

tribes 5 

The Sabellian races 5 

The Samnites 5 

The Lucanians 6 

The Bruttii 6 

The Latins 6 

The Latium 6 

5. The lapygians 7 

6. The Greeks 7 



CHAPTEE n. 

The Early Kings and the Okiginal Constitution of Rome, 753-617 b.o. 



B.C. 

Position of Rome 8 

Its inhabitants 8 

1. Latins 8 

2. Sabines 8 

3. Etruscans 9 

Remarks on early Roman his- 
tory 9 

Legend of jEneas 9 

Legend of Ascanius 10 

Foundation of Alba Longa 10 

Legend of Rhea Silvia . . . . 10 

Birth of Romulus and Remus 10 

Their recognition by Numitor 10 

7r3 Foundation of Rome .. .. 11 

RomaQuadrata ., .. .. 11 

Pomerium 11 

Death of Remus 11 



B.C. 

753-716. Reign of Romulus .. 

Asylum 

Rape of Sabines . . 
War with Latins . . 
War with Sabines 

Tarpeia 

Sabine women 
Joint reign of Romulus 
and Titus Tatius 
Death of Titus Tatius 
Sole reign of Romulus 
Translation of Romulus 
715-673. Raignof NumaPompilius 
Institutions ascribed to 
NumaPompilius .. 

Flamens 14 

Vestal Virgins.. .. 14 



13 



14 



Vlll 



CONTENTS. 



B.C. Page 

Salii 14 

Temple of Janus . . 14 
673-642. Reign of Tullus Hostilius 14 

War with Alba Longa 14 

Battle of the Horatii 
and Curiatii . . . . 14 

War with the Etrus- 
cans 15 

Punishment of Mettius 
Fuffeiius, Dictator of 
Alba Longa . . . . 15 

Destruction of Alba 
Longa ; .. 15 

Semoval of its inhabit- 
ants to Rome . . . . 15 

Death of Tullus Hos- 
tiliuB 15 



B.C. Page 

642-617. Reign of A ncuB Marcius 15 

War with the Latins.. 15 

Institution of Fetiales.. 16 

Osiia 16 

Janiculum 16 

Pons Sublicius .. .. i6 

Death (if Ancus Murcius 16 
The original constitution of 

Rome 16 

The Patricians .. .. 16 

The Plebeians .. .. 16 

The king 17 

The Patrician tribes . . 17 

The Curiae 18 

The Comitia Curiuta . . 18 

The Senate 18 

The priestly colleges . . 18 



CHAPTER III. 

The Last Three Kings op Rome, and the Establishment of the Republic, 
DOWN to the Battle of the Lake Reoili us, 616-498 b c. 



616-579. Reign of Tarquinius 

Priscus 20 

His early history. . . . 20 
His removal to Rome. . 21 
Becomes king . . . . 21 

His wars 21 

TheCloacK 21 

Circus Maximus . . . . 21 
Increase of the Seuate. . 21 
Increase of the Vestal 

Virgins 21 

Early history of Servius 

TuUius . . .,21 
Death of Tarquinius 

Priscus 22 

678-535. Reign of Servius TuUius 22 
I. Reform of the Roman 

Constitution.. .. 23 

1. Division of the Ro- 

man teriitory into 
Four Tribes . . . . 23 

2. Census 23 

Five Classes ,. .. 24 
The Equities . . . . 24 
Number of the Cen- 
turies 24 

Comitia centuriata, . 25 

Two assemblies — 

Comitia CentUTiata, 

Comitia Curiata 25 

II. Increase of the city 

walls of Servius Tul- 

lius 25 

III. Alliance with the Latins 26 
Death of Servius TuUius 26 



535-510. Keijin of Tarquinius Su- 

perbus 27 

His tyranny 27 

His alli£.nce with tlie 

Latins 27 

His war with the Vol- 

scians 27 

Foundation of the temple 

on the Oftpitoline Hill 28 
The Sibylline books . . 28 
Legend of the Sibyl . . 28 
Capture of Gabii .. .. 28 
King's sons and Brutus 
sent to consult the 
oracle at Delphi . . 28 

Lucretia 29 

Expulsion of the T.ir- 

quins 30 

509. Establishment of the Rf public 30 

The Consuls 3U 

first attempt to restore the 

Tarquins 31 

Execution of the sons of 

Brutus 31 

War of the Etruscans with 

Rome 31 

Death of i rutus . . . . 31 

Defeat of the Etruscans . . 31 

Valerius Pulilicola 32 

Dedication of the Capitoline 
Temple by M. Horatius .. 32 
508. Second attempt to restore the 

Tarquins 32 

Lars Porsena 32 

Horatius Cucles 32 



CONTENTS. 



IX 



B.C. Page 

Mucius Scaevola 33 

Cloelia 33 

498. Third attempt to restore the 

Tarquins 33 



B.C. Page 

War with the Latins . . . , 33 

496. Battle of the Lake Eegillus . . 34 

Death of Tarquinius Superbus 34 



CHAPTEK IV. 



Fbom the Battle of the Lake Regillus to the Decemvikate, 
498-451 B.C. 



Struggles between the Patri- 
cians and Plebeians . . 
Ascendency t)f the Patricians 
Sufferings ot the t'lebeians . . 
Law of debtor and crt ditor . . 

Ager Publicus 36 

Object of the Plebeians to ob- 
tain a share in the political 
power and in the public 

land 37 

494. Secession to the Sacred Mount 37 
Fable of Menenius Agrippa 37 



36 



Instituiions of the Tribunes 

of the i'lebs 37 

486. Agrarian Law of Sp. Cassius 38 
League between the Romans, 
Latins, and Hernicans . . 38 

Foreign wars 38 

488. I. Coriolanus andtlie Vol- 

scians 39 

477. n. The Fabia Gens and 

Veientines .. .. 40 
458. III. Cincinnatus and the 

Aequians 40 



CHAPTER V. 



The Decemvikate, 451-449 b.c. 



471. Publilian Law, transferring 
election of the Tribunes from 
the Comitia of Curite to the 
Concilium ol the Tribes . . 44 

462. Proposal ol the Tribune Teren- 
tilius Arsa lor the appoint- 
ment orDecemviri . . . . 44 

454. Appointment of three Com- 
missi 'U-^rs to visit Greece. . 44 

452. Their return to Rome . . . . 44 

451. Appointment of the Decemviri 44 
The Ten Tables 45 

450. New Decemviri appointed . . 45 
Their tyranny 45 



Two new Tables added, 

making twelve in all . . 45 
449. The Decemviri continue in 

office 45 

Death of Sicinius Dentatus 46 

Death of Verginia . . . . 46 
Second secession to the Sacred 

llount 47 

Resignation of the Decem- 
virs 47 

Election of ten Tribunes . . 47 

Valerian and Iloratian Laws 48 

Death of Appius Claudius . . 48 

The Twelve Tables 48 



CHAPTEE VI. 

From the Decemvieate to the Capture of Rome by the Gauls, 

448-390 B.C. 



445. Third secession to the Janic- 

ulum 50 

Lex Canulela for inte-'- 
marriage between the 
two orders 50 

Institution of Military 
Tribunes with consular 
powers 51 



443. Institution of the Censorship 51 
421. Quaestorship thrown open to 

the Plebeians 51 

440. Famine at Rome 51 

439. Death of Sp. Maelius . . . . 52 

Foreign wars 52 

Roman colonies 52 

War with the Etruscans . . 52 



CONTENTS. 



B.C. I 'age 

437. Spolia Opima wod by A. Cor- 
nelius Cossus 53 

426. Capture and destruction of 

Fldenae 53 

406. Commencement of siege of 

Veil 53 

Tale of Alban Lake . , . . 63 



B.C. Page 

396. Appointment of Camillus as 

Dictator . . 53 

Capture of Veil 53 

394. Surrender of Falerii . , . . 53 

Unpopularity of Camillus .. 54 

391. He goes into exile 54 



CHAPTER VII. 

From the Capture of Rome by the Gauls to the Final Union of the 
Two Orders, 390-367 B.C. 



The Gauls 55 

391. Attack of Clusium by the 

Senones 56 

Roman ambassadors sent to 

Clusium 56 

They take part in the fight 

against the Senones ... 56 
The Senones march upon 

Rome 56 

390. Battle of the Allia 56 

Destruction of Rome . . . . 57 
Siege of the Capitol .. .. 57 
Legpnd of M. Manlius . . 57 
Appointment of Camillus as 

Dictator 57 

Legend of his delivering 

Rome from the Gauls . . 58 
Rebuilding of the city .. .. 58 
Further Gallic wars . . . . 58 
361. Legend of T. Manlius Tor- 

quatus 59 

349. Legend of M. Valerius 

Corvus 59 



385. Distress at Rome 59 

384. M. Manlius comes forward as 

a patron of the poor . . . . 59 

His fate 60 

376. Licinian Rogations proposed 60 
Violent opposition of the Pa- 
tricians 61 

367. Licinian Rogations passed .. 61 
366. L. Sextius first Plebeian 

Consul . . . . 61 

Institution of the Praetorship 61 
356. First Plebeian Dictator . . . . 62 
351. First Plebeian Censor . . . . 62 
337. First Plebeian Praetor .. .. 62 
300. Lex Ogulnia, increasing the 
number of the Pontiffs and 
Augurs, and enacting that 
a certain number ol them 
should be taken from the 

Plebeians 62 

339. Publilian Laws 62 

287. Lex Hortensia . . ._ 63 

Equalisation of the orders . . 63 



CHAPTER VIIL 

From the Licinian Rogations to the End of the Samkite Wars, 
367-290 B.C. 



362. Pestilence at Rome 64 

Death of Camillus 64 

Tale of M. Curtius 64 

Extension of Koinan dominion 
over Southern Etruria, Vol- 

sci, and Latins 65 

The Samnites 65 

Their history 65 

Conquer Campania and Lu- 

cania 65 

Samnites of the Apennines 

attack the Sidicini . . . . 65 
Campanians assist the Sidicini 65 
They are defeated by the Sam- 
nites 65 



They solicit the assistance of 

Rome 

343-341. First Samnite War 

Battle of Mount Gaurus 

Peace concluded . . 

Reasons for the conclu 

sion of peace 

340-338. The Latin War . . 

The armies meet near 

Mount Vesuvius 
Tale of Torquatus 
Decisive battle 
Self-sacrifice of De 

cius 

Battle at Trifanum 



CONTENTS. 



B.C. Page 

Capture of Latin towns 68 
Conclusion of the war 68 
Dissoluiion of the Latin 

league 68 

330. Conquest of tbe Volscian town 

of Privernum 69 

Origin of the Second Samnite 

War 69 

327. The Romans attack Palaeo- 

polis and Neapolis . . . . 69 
326-304. Second Samnite War . . 69 
First Period. 

Roman arms successful 69 
326. Quarrel between L. Pa- 

pirins Dictator and Q. 
Fabius, his master of 

the horse 69 

321-315. Second Period. 

Success of the Samnites 70 
321. Defeat of the Romans at 
the Caudine Forks by 
C.Pontius 70 



B.C. Page 

Ignominious treaty re- 
jected by the Romans 71 
314-304. Third Period. 

Success of the Romans 71 

311. War with the Etruscans 71 

Defeat of the Etruscans 71 

Defeat of the Samnites 71 

304. Peace with Rome. . .. 71 

300. Conquests of Rome in Central 

Italy T2 

Coalition of Etruscans, Umbri- 
ans, and Samnites, against 

Rome 12 

298-290. Third Samnite War . . 72 
295. Decisive battle of Sen- 

tinum 72 

Self-sacrifice of the 
younger Decius.. .. 72 
292. C. Pontius taken pri- 

soner and put to 

death 72 

Results of the wars 73 



CHAPTER IX. 



From the Conclusion of the Samnite War to the Subjugation of Italy, 
290 265 B.C. 



283. War with the Etruscans and 

Gauls 74 

Battle of the Lake Vadimo . . 74 

282. State of Magna Graecia . . . . 74 

The Romans assist Thurii . . 74 
Their fleet is attacked by the 

Tarentines 75 

Roman embassy to Tarentum 75 
281.AVar declared against the Ta- 
rentines 75 

They apply for aid to Pyrrhus 75 

Pyrrhus arrives in Italy . . 75 
280. Plis first campaign against the 

Romans 76 

Battle near Heraclea . . . . 76 
Remarks of Pyrrhus on the 

victory 77 

He attempts to make peace 

with Rome 77 

Failure of his minister Cineas 77 

He marches upon Rome . . 77 
Retires into winter-quarters at 

Tarentum 78 

Embassy of Fabricius . . . . 78 

279. Second campaign of Pyrrhus 78 

Battle near Asculum . . . . 78 
278. Treachery of the servant of 

Pyrrhus . . . . 79 

Truce with Rome 79 

Pj'rrhus crosses over into Sicily 79 

276. He returns to Italy 79 

275. Defeat of Pyrrhus 80 



He returns to Greece . . . . 80 
272 Subjugation of Tarentum .. 80 
Supremacy of Rome in Italy 80 
273. Embassy of Ptolemy Philadel- 

phus to Rome 81 

Organisation of Italy .. .. 81 
Three classes of Italian popu- 
lation : — 

I. Cives Romani, or Ro- 

man Citizens . . 81 

1. Of the Thirty-three 

Tribes 81 

2. Of the Roman Co- 

lonies 81 

3. Of the Municipal 

Towns .. .. 81 

II. Municipia 81 

ni. Socii, or Allies . . . . 81 

(i.) Latini 81 

(ii.) VivlatesUberaeand 

foederatae . . .. 81 
312. Censorship of A ppius Claudius 82 
His dangerous innovation as to 

the Freedmen 82 

304. Repeiiled in the C nsorship of 
Q. Fabius Maximus and P. 

Decius Mns 82 

312. The Appian Way 8:i 

The Appian Aqueduct .. .. 82 
Publication of the forms of 
law by Cn. Flavins .. .. 83 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER X. 

The First Punic War, 264-241 B.C. 



825. Foundation of Carthage. . .. 84 

Its empire SH 

Its government 85 

its army 85 

3ts fort-ign conquests . . . . 85 
Conquest of Messana by the 

Mamertini 85 

Hiero attacks the Mamer- 
tini 86 

They apply for assistance to 

Rome 86 

264. The Consul Ap. Claudius 
crosses over to Sicily to aid 

them 

He defeats the forces of Syra- 
cuse and Carthage 
263. Hiero makes peace with the 

Romans 

262. Capture of Agrigfntum by the 

Romans 

260. The Romans build a fleet . . 
Naval victory of the Consul 

Duilius 88 

256. The Romans invade Africa . . 89 
Naval victory at Ecnomus . . 89 
lirilliant success of Regulus in 

Africa 89 

The Carthaginians sue in vain 

for peace . . 90 

255. Arrival of the Lacedaemonian 

Xanthippus 90 



B.C. Page 

He restores confidence to the 

Carthaginians 90 

Defeat and captui e of Regulus 90 
Destruction of the Roman fleet 

by a storm 90 

The Romans build another 

fleet 90 

253. Again desiroyed by a storm . . 90 
The war confined lo Sicily . . 91 
250. Victory of Metellus at Panor- 

mus 91 

Embassy of the Carthaginians 

to Rome 91 

Heroic conduct of Regulus . . 91 

250. Siege of Lilybaeum 92 

249. Defeat of the Consul Claudius 

at sea 92 

Destruction of the Roman fleet 

a third time 92 

247. Appointment of Hamilcar Bar- 
ca to the Carthaginian com- 
mand 93 

He entrenches himself on 
Mount Hercte, near Panor- 

mus 93 

He removes to Mount Eryx . . 93 
241. Roman victory off the Aegatian 

islands 93 

Peace with Carthage .. .. 94 

End of the War 94 

Sicily a province 94 



CHAPTER XL 

The CoNQtTBST of Northern Italy. The Carthaginians in Spain. 

240-219 B.C. 



240-238. War of the Mercenaries 

with Carthage . . . . 95 
She owes her safety to Hamil- 
car 95 

238. The Romans seize Sardinia 

and Corsica 96 

Hamilcar goes to Spain . . 96 
235. Temple of Janus closed . , 96 
Completion of the Thirty-five 

Roman Tribes 96 

229.IlltrianWar 96 

Conquest of Teuta, queen 
of the lUyrians . . . . 96 
228. Honours paid to the Romans 

in the Greek cities . . . . 97 
232. Agrarian law of the Tribune 

Klaminius 97 



225. Gallic War 97 

Defeat of the Gauls at Tela- 

mon in Etruria . . . . 97 

224. Conquest of the Boii . . 97 

223. The Romans cross the Po 97 

222. Conquest of the Insubres 98 

Marcellus wins the Spolia 

Opiraa 98 

220. The Via Flaminia from Rome 

to Ariminum 98 

218. Foundation of Colonies at 

Placentia and Cremona . . 98 

236. Hamilcar in Spain . . . . 98 

Oath of Hannibal 98 

228. Death of Hamilcar . . . . 98 
Hasdrubal succeeds him in 

the command 98 



CONTENTS. 



B.C. I 

228. Treaty with Rome . . . . 

221. Deatli of Hasdrubal , . . . 

Hannibal t-uccecds liini in ttie 

command 



B.C. Page 

219. Siege of Saguntum . . . . 99 

its capture 99 

War declared against Carthage 100 



CHAPTER XII. 



■The Second Punic War : First Period down to the Battle of Cannae, 
218-216 B.C. 



218. Preparations of Hannibal .. 101 
His march to the Rhone . . 102 
Arrival of the Consul Scipio 

at Massilia 102 

Hannibal crosses the Rhone 102 
Scipio sends his brother to 

Spain, and returns himself 

to Italy 

Hannibal crosses the Alps . . 
Skirmish on the 'licinus 
Battle of the Trebia 
Defeat of the Romans . . 
217. Hannibiil's march through 

Etruria 

Battle of the Lake Trasi- 

menus 105 



102 
103 
103 
104 
104 

104 



Great defeat of the Ro- 
mans 105 

Q. Fabius Maximus appointed 

Dictator 106 

His policy 106 

Rashness of Minucius the 
Master of the Horse . . . . 106 
216. Great preparations of the 

Romans 107 

Battle of Cannae Iu7 

Great defeat of the Ro- 
mans 107 

Revolt of Southern Italy . . 108 
Hannibal winters at Capua 108 
Note on Hannibal's passage 
across the Alps 108 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Second Punic War: Second Period, from the Revolt of Capua to 
THE Battle of the AIetaueus, 215-207 b.c. 



215 Plan of the war Ill 

Hannibal's repulse before 

Nola la 

Macedon and Syracuse nego- 
tiate with Hannibal . . .. Ill 
214. He attempts in vain to sur- 
prise Tarentum 112 

213. He obtains possession of Ta- 

rentum .. 112 

War in Sicilv — 

216. Death of Hiero 112 

Succession of Hipronymus 112 

His assassination .. .. 112 

214. Arrival of Marcellus in 

Sicily 1:2 

He takes Leontini . . . . 113 

He lays siege to Syracuse il.'l 

Defence by Archimedes .. 113 

212. Capture of Syracuse .. 1x3 



War in Spain— 
212. Surprise and death of the 

two Scipios 116 

Siege of Capua 116 

211. Hannibal marches upon Rome 116 
Is compelled to retreat .. Ii7 
Tiie Romans recover Capua 117 
Punishment of its inhabitants 117 
209. The Romans recover Ta- 
rentum 117 

208. Defeat and death of Marcellus 118 

207. Hasdrubal marches into Italy 118 

He besieges Plao ntia . . . . 118 

March of the Cons 1 Nero to 

join his lolleagie Livius 

in Umbria 118 

Battle of the Metaurus .. lin 

Defeat and death of Hasdrubal 119 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Second Punic Wak : Third Period, from the Battle of the Metaurus 
TO the Conclusion of the War, 206-201 b.c. 



B.C. Page 

Character and early life of 

Scipio 120 

210. He is elected Proconsul for 

Spain 121 

He takes New Carthage .. 121 

206. He subdues Spain 121 

He crosses over into Africa 

and visits Syphax . . . . 123 

Surrender of liades . . . . 123 

Scipio returns to Rome . . 123 

205. His Consulship 123 

He prepares to invade Africa 123 



B.C. Page 

His project is opposed by the 

Senate 123 

Preparations in Sicily . , . . 124 

204. He arrives in Africa . . . . 124 
203. He defeats the Carthaginians 

and Syphax 126 

Masiuissa and Sophonisba .. 125 
The Carthaginians recall Han- 
nibal 126 

202. Battle of Zama, and defeat of 

Hannibal 126 

201, Peace with Carthage .. .. 12V 



CHAPTER XV. 

Wars in the East: the Macedonian, Syrian, and (xAlatian Wars, 
214-188 B.C. 



Results of the Punic Wars 128 

State of the East 128 

Syria 128 

Pontus 128 

Galatia 128 

Pergamus 128 

Egypt 129 

State of Greece 129 

Macedonia 129 

Achaean League .. ., 129 

Aetolian League .. .. 129 

Rhodes 129 

Athens 129 

Sparta 129 

214-205. First Macedonian War — 

1 ts indecisive character 130 
211. Treaty of the Romans 
with the Aetolian 

League 130 

205. Conclusion of the war 130 

Philip renews hos 

tilities 130 

He assists the Cartha- 
ginians at the battle 

of Zama 130 

His conduct in Greece 

and Asia 130 

200-196. Second Macedonian War — 
300. First campaign : the 

Consul Galba . . . . 131 
199. Second Compaign : the 

Consul Villius . . 131 
198. Third compaign t the 

Consul Flamininus 131 



197. Battle of Cynosce- 

phalae 131 

196. Peace with Philip . . 131 

Declaration of Greek 
independence at the 
Isthmian Games . . 130 
191-190. Syrian War— 

Antiochus the Third 132 
Intrigues of the Ae- 

tolians in Greece . . 133 
They invite Antiochus 

to Greece 133 

Hannibal expelled from 

Carthage 133 

He arrives in Syria . . 133 
His advice to Antio- 
chus 133 

192. Antiochus crosses over 

to Greece 133 

191. The Romans defeat 

him at Thermopylae 133 
He returns to Asia . . 133 
190. The Romans invade 

Asia 134 

Battle of Magnesia . . 134 
Defeat of Antiochus by 

Scipio A siaticus .. 134 
Terms of peace . . . . 134 
Hannibal flies to Pru- 
sias, king of Bithy- 

nia 134 

189. Aetouan War — 

Fulvius takes Ambracia 134 
Terms of peace 134 



CONTENTS. 



B.C. I 

189. Galatian Wae — 

Manlius attacks the Gala- 
tians without the autho- 
rity of the Senate or the 
People . ^ 



B.C. rage 

188. Organisation of Asia .. .. 135 
187. Manlius returns to Rome .. 135 
Effects of the Eastern con- 
quests upon the Boman 
character 136 



CHAPTER XVI. 



AVaes in the West: the Gallic, Ligurian, and Spanish Wars, 
200-175 B.C. 

197. Two Provinces formed in 

Spain 139 

195. The Spanish War— 

The Consul M. Porcius Cato 
sent into Spain .. .. 139 

His success 139 

The Spaniards again take 

up arms 140 

179. The war brought to a con- 
clusion by Ti. Sempro- 
nius Gracchus . . . . 140 
178. The Istkian War .. .. 140 
177-175. The Sardinian and 

CoKsrcAN War . , . . 140 



200. 


The Gallic War — 
The Gauls take Placentia 
and lay siege to Cre- 






mona 


188 


196. 


Conquest of the Insubres 






and Cenomani .. .. 


i:w 


191. 


Conquest of the Boii 


138 


189. 


Colony founded at Bono- 








138 


180. 


Via Aemilia 


1.38 


200. 


The Ligueian War — 
Continued with intermis- 






sions for nearly 80 years 


138 




Character of the war 


138 



CHAPTER XVII. 



The Roman Constitution and Aemt. 



Review of the history of the 

Roman Constitution 
Political equality of the Patri- 
cians and Plebians . . . . 
I. The Magistrates — 
The Lex Annalis 
Curule and non-curule . . 
Ordinary and extraordi- 
nary 

1. The Quaestors .. .. 

2. The Aediles .. .. 

3. The Praetors . . . . 

4. The Consuls .. ., 

5. The Dictator . . . . 

6. The Censors . . . . 

(a) The Census 
(6) Control over the 
morals of the 
citizens . . . , 
(c) Administration 
of the finances 
of the state , , 
II. Tpe Senate— 

Its number 145 

Its mode of election . . , . 145 
Its power and duties . , 146 
III. The Popular Assemblies — 

1. The Comitia Curiata . . 146 



141 

141 

142 
142 

142 
142 
142 
143 
143 
144 
144 
144 



144 



145 



2. The Comitia Centuriata : 

change in its constitu- 
tion 146 

3. The Comitia Tributa and 

the Concilium Plebis 147 

The Tribunes 147 

IV. Finance — 

Tributum 147 

Vectigalia 148 

V. The Provinces 148 

VI. The Army— 

Number of the Legion . . 149 

1. First Period — Servius 

Tullius 149 

2. Second Period — The 

Great Latin War, B.C. 

340 149 

Hastati 149 

Principes . . . . 149 
Triarii 149 

3. Third Period — During 

the wars of the young- 
er Scipio 149 

Two legions as- 
signed to each 
Consul . . . . 149 
Division of the le- 
gion 150 



Annour and mode 

of fighting , 
The Horse-soldiers 
Infantry and caval- 
ry of the Socii . . 
4. Fourth Feriod — ITrom 



CONT 
Page 


ENTS. 

B.C. 


the times of the Grac- 


Pag6 


150 




chi to the downfall of 




150 




the Kepublic . . . . 
Changes introduced 


151 


150 




by Marius . . , . 


161 






A Roman triumph . . . . 


152 



CHAPTEE XVIII. 

Internal History of Rome during the Macedonian and Syrian Wars. 
Cato and Scipio. 



Effectof the Roman conquests 

in the East 153 

Debasement of the Roman 

character 154 

1 S6. Worship of Bacchus .. .. 154 
Gladiatorial exhibitions .. 154 
Rise of the new nobility .. 154 
181. Law against bribery .. .. 155 
Decay of the peasant proprie- 
tors 155 

M. Porcius Cato 156 

234. His birth 156 

His early life 156 

204. His Quaestorship 156 

198. His Praetorship 156 

195. His Consulship 157 

Repeal of the Oppian Law 167 



191. Cato serves in the battle of 

Thermopylae 157 

Prosecution of the two Scipios 158 

Haughty conduct of Scipio 

Africanus 158 

Condemnation of Scipio Asia- 

ticus 158 

Prosecution of Scipio Afri- 
canus 158 

He leaves Rome 159 

183. His death 159 

Death of Hannibal .. .. 160 

184. Censorship of Cato .. .. 160 
He studies Greek in bis old 

age .. .. 160 

His character 160 



CHAPTEE XIX. 
The Third Macedonian, Achaean, and Third Punic Wars, 179-146 B.C. 



179. Death of Philip and accession 

of Perseus 162 

172. Attempted murder of Eu- 

menes king of Pergamus. . 163 
171-168. Third Macedonian War — 
168. Battle of Pydna.. .. 163 

Defeat of Perseus by L. 
Aemilius Paullus .. 163 
167.Aemilius PauUus punishes 

the Epirotes 164 

His triumph 164 

His domestic misfortunes . . 1 64 
Relations of Rome with 

Eastern powers 16 4 

Embassy to Antiochus Epi- 

phanes 164 

Treatment of Eumenes king 

of Pergamus 164 

Mean conduct of Prusias king 

ofBithynia 165 

Treatment of the Rhodians. . 165 



166. One thousand Achaeans sent 

to Italy 165 

150. The survivors allowed to re- 

turn to Greece 165 

149. A pretender lays claim to the 

throne of Macedonia . . 166 
He is defeated and taken pri- 
soner 166 

147-146. Thr Achaean War — 
146. Corinth taken by L. 

JVIummius .. .. 167 
Final conquest of 

Greece 167 

Creation of the pro- 
vince of Mace loiiia 
and Achaea .. .. 167 
Rome jealous of Garbage .. 167 
Advice of Cato 167 

151. War between Masinissa and 

Carthage 168 

Conduct of the Romans .. 168 



CONTENTS. 



xvn 



B.C. Page 

149-146. Thikd Punic Wae— 
147. Scipio Africanus the 

younger. Consul . . 169 
His parentage and 

adoption 169 



B.C. Page 

His character . . . . 170 
146. He takes Carthage .. 170 

Formation of the Soman pro- 
vince of Africa .. .. ., 171 
Later history of Carthage .. 171 



CHAPTEE XX. 



Spanish Waes, 153-133 b.c First Servile War, 134-132 B.C. 



1 fiS. War with the Celtiberians . . 173 
152. Peace with the Celtiberians. . 173 
151. War with the Lusitanians . . 173 
150. Treacherous murder of the 

Lusitanians by Galba . . 174 
Success of Viriathus against 

the Romans 1 74 

The Celtiberians again take 
up ani.s — the Numantine 

War 174 

140. Murder of Viriathus . . . . 1 75 
138. Brutus conquers the Gallaeci 175 
137. The Consul Ho^tilius Manci- 
nus defeated by the Mu- 

mantines 175 

He signs a peace with the 

Numantines 175 

The Senate refuse to ratify it 175 
142. Censorship of Scipio Afri- 
canus 175 

134. Consul a second time . . . . 176 
He carries on the war against 
Numantia 176 



133. He takes Numantia . . . . 176 

Increase of slaves 176 

I'hey rise in Sicily . . . . 177 
They elect Eunus as their 

leader 177 

Eunus assumes the title of 
king 177 

134. He defeats the Eoman gene- 

rals 177 

132. Is himself defeated and taken 

prisoner 177 

133. Deatli of Attains, last king of 

Pergamus . . 177 

He bequeaths his kingdom 
to the Romans 177 

131. Aristonicus lays claim to the 

kingdom of Pergamus . . 177 

130. Is defeated and taken pri- 
soner 178 

129. Formation of the province of 

Asia 178 

Extent of the Roman domi- 
nions 178 



CHAPTER XXI. 



The Geacchi and the Attack on the Government, 133-121 B.C. 



Necessity for reform .. .. 179 
Economic condition of Italy 179 
Early life of Tiberius Grac- 
chus 180 

137. Quaestor in Spain 181 

133. Tribune 181 

Brings forward an Agrarian 

Law 181 

Op])osition of the landowners 182 
The Tribune Octavius puts 

his veto upon it 182 

Deposition of Octavius.. .. 182 

The Agrarian Law enacted. . 183 

Three Commissioners elected 183 
Proposed distribution of the 
treasnreB of Pergamus 

amongst the Eoman people 183 



R newed opposition to Tibe- 
rius 183 

He becomes a candidate for 
the Tribunate a second time 183 

Riots 184 

Death of Tiberius 184 

132. Return of Scipio to Rome . . 184 
He opposes the popular party 
and champions the Italians 185 

129. Death of Scipio 185 

126. Expulsion of the AUii s from 

Rome 186 

125. M. Fulvius Flaccus proposes 
to give the franchise to the 

Italians 186 

Revolt and destruction of 
Fregellae 186 

b 



xvni 



CONTENTS. 



B.C. Page 

126. C. Gracchus goes to Sardinia 

as Quaestor 187 

124. He reiurns to Rome . . . . 187 
123. Enters on the Tribunate . . 187 

His legislation 187 

1. Laws for improving the 

condition of the people 187 

1. Extension of the 

Agrarian Law .. 187 

2. State provision for 

the poor . . . . 187 

3. Soldiers equipped at 

the expense of the 
Republic .. .. 188 
II. Laws to diminish the 

power of the Senate . . 188 
1. Transference of the 
judicial power 
from the Senators 
to the Equites . . 188 



B.C. rage 

2. Distribution of the 

Provinces before 

the election of the 

Consuls .. .. 188 

122. C. Gracchus Tribune a second 

time 189 

Proposes to confer the citizen- 
ship upon the Latins, and 
Latin rights on the Italians 189 
Unpopularity of this proposal 189 
The Tribune M. Livius Dru- 

sus outbids Gracchus . . 189 
Foundation of a colony at 

Carthage 190 

Decline of the popularity of 

Gracchus 190 

121. His murder 190 

Fate of the Gracchan legisla- 
tion 191 



CHAPTER XXII. 

The Juguethine War and the Defeat of the Government, 118-104. 



C. Marius 193 

134. Serves at the siege of Nu- 

mantia 193 

Attracts the notice of 

Scipio Africanus . . . . 193 

119. Tribune of the Plebs .. 193 

115. Praetor 193 

149. Death of Masinissa .. .. 193 

Accession of Micipsa . . . . 193 
134. Jugurtha serves at the siege 

of Numantia 193 

118. Death of Micipsa 194 

Jugurtha assassinates Hi- 

empsal 1 94 

War between Jugurtha and 

Adherbal 194 

116. Roman commissioners divide 

Numidia between Jugurtha 

and Adherbal 194 

Fresh war between Jugurtha 

and Adherbal .. .. .. 194 

Siege of Cirta 194 

112. Death of Adherbal and mas- 
sacre of Italian merchants 195 
111. The Romans declare war 

against Jugurtha . . . . 195 
Jugurtha bribes the Consul 

Calpurnius Bestia .. .. 195 

Indignation at Rome . . . . 1 95 

Jugurtha comes to Rome ., 195 

He murders Massiva .. .. 195 

Renewal of the war . . . . 195 



110. Incapacity of the Consul Sp. 

Postumius Albinus . . . . 195 
Defeat of his brother Aulus 196 
Bill of the Tribune C. Mami- 

lius 196 

Many Romans condemned . . 196 
109. The Consul Q. Caecilius Me- 

tellus lands in Africa . . 196 
Accompanied by Marius as 

his lieutenant 196 

Metellus defeats Jugurtha . . 196 
Ambitious views of Marius 197 
108. He quits Africa and arrives 

in Rome 198 

Is elected Consul .. .. .. 198 

Attacks the nobility .. .. 198 

Campaign of Metellus as Pro- 
consul 198 

Thr- people give Marius the 
command of the Numidian 

War 198 

107. First Consulship of Marius . . 198 
He arrives in Africa . . . . 198 
He defeats Jugurtha and Boc- 
chus king of Mauritania . . 199 
106. Bocchus surrenders Jugurtha 
to Sulla, the Quaestor of 

Marius 199 

Early history of Sulla . . .. 199 

His character 199 

104. Triumph of Marius .. .. 200 
His second Consulship . . . . 200 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

The Cimbri and Teutones, 113-101 b.c. Second Servile War in Sicilt, 
103-101 B.C. 



B.C. Page 

Invasion of the Cimbri and 

Teutones 201 

Their probable origin . . .. 2Jl 
113. Defeat of the Consul Cn. Pa- 

pirius Carbo 202 

109. Defeat of the Consul M. Ju- 
nius Silanus 202 

107. Defeat of the Consul L. Cas- 

sius Longinus 202 

105. Defeat of the Consul Cn. Mal- 
lius Maximus and the Pro- 
consul Cn. Servilius Caepio 202 
104. Second Consulship of Marius 202 
The Cimbri invade Spain . . 202 
103 Third Consulship of Marius 203 
102. Fourth Consulship of Marius 203 
The Cimbri return from 
Spain 203 



102. Marius takes up his position 

near Aries 203 

The Cimbri enter Italy by the 
Pass of Tridentum . . . . 
Great defeat of the Teutones 
by Marius at Aquae Sextiae 
101. Fifth Consulship of Marius 
Great defeat of the Cimbri at 
Vercellae by Marius and 
the Proconsul Catulus 
Triumph of Marius and Ca- 
tulus 204 

103-101. Second tervile War in 

Sicily 

Tryphon king of the Slaves 

Succeeded by Athenio as king 

101. The Consul Aquillius puts 

an end to the war • . . , 205 



203 



203 

204 



204 



204 
205 
205 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

The Downfall of the Opposition, and the Attempt of Drdshs at Reform, 
100-91 B.C. 



100. Sixth Consulship of Marius 20S 
His league with the dema- 
gogues Saturninus and 

Glaucia 206 

Agrarian Law of Saturninus 207 
Banishment of Metellus . . 207 
Assassination of Memmius 207 
Saturninus and Glaucia de- 
clared public enemies . . 208 
They are put to death . . . . 208 



Marius visits the East . . . . 208 
92. Condemnation of Eutilius 

Rufus 209 

91. Tribunate of M. Livius Dru- 

BUS 209 

His measures 209 

Proposes to give the franchise 

to the Italian allies . . . . 209 

His assassination 21 n 

The Varian commission .. 210 



CHAPTER XXV. 

The Social or Marsic War, and the Incorporation of Italy, 90-89 B.C. 



90. The Allies take up arms . . 211 

The war breaks out at Ascu- 
lum in Picenum .. .. 211 

Corfinium the new capital of 
the Italian confederation 212 

Q. Pompaedius Silo, a Mar- 
sian, and C. Papius Mu- 
tilus, a Samnite, the Italian 
Consuls 212 

Defeat and death of the Roman 
Consul P. Rutilius Lupus 212 



Exploits of Marius .. .. 213 

The Lex Julia 213 

89. Success of the Romans . . 213 

The Lex Plautia Papiria . . 213 
The franchise given to the 

Allies 214 

All the Allies lay down their 
arms except the Samnites 

and Lucanians 214 

The incorporation of Italy .. 214 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



FiBST Civir. War, 88-86 B.C. 



B.C. Page 

88. Consulship of Sulla . . . . 215 

Receives the command of the 

Mithridatic War . . . . 216 
The Tribune P. Sulpicius 

Rufus 216 

He proposes to distribute the 
Italians among the tliirty- 

jive tribes 216 

Sulla flies from Rome to Nola 2 6 
The people give Marius the 
command of the Mithridatic 

War 217 

Sulla marches upon Rome . . 217 
Sulpicius put to death. . . . 217 
Marius flies from Rome . . 217 



B.C. Page 

His adventures 217 

Is seized at Minturnae.. ., 218 

Escapes to Africa 219 

Repeal of the Sulpician laws 219 

Sulla sails to the East . . . . 219 

87. Riots at Rome 219 

The Consul Cinna invites the 

assistance of Marius . . .. 220 
Marius and Ciima march 

upon Rome 220 

They enter the city . . . . 220 

Massacre of their enemies . . 220 

86. Seventh Consulship of Marius 220 

His death 220 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



First Mithridatic War, 88-84 B.C. 



Kingdom of Pontus .. .. 221 

Its history 221 

120. Accession of Mithridates 

VI 222 

His early life 222 

His attainments 222 

His conquests 222 

His disputes with the Ro- 
mans 222 

88. He invades Cappadocia and 

Bithynia 223 

He invades the Roman pro- 
vince of Asia 223 

Massacre of Romans and 

Italians 223 



87. The Greek states declare in 

favour of Mithridates . . 224 
Sulla lands iu Epirus . . . . 224 
He lays siege to Athens and 

the Piraeus 224 

86. Takes these cities 224 

Defeats Archelaus, the gene- 
ral of Mithridates, at Chae- 

ronea 224 

85. Again defeats Archelaus at 

Orchomenus 224 

84. Peace wilh Mithridates . . 225 
Sulla attacks Fimbria, the 
Marian general, in Asia . . 225 
83. He returns to Italy . . . . 225 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



Second Civil War. Sulla's Dictatorship, Legislation, and Death, 
83-78 B.C. 



84. Consulship of Cinna and 

Carbo 227 

Death of Cinna 227 

83. Consulship of Scipio and Nor- 

banus 226 

Preparations for war . . . . 226 

The Italians support the Ma- 
rian purty 228 

Sulla marches from Brundu- 
sium to Campania . . . 228 

Defeats the Consul Norbanus 228 



Pompey, Metellus Pius, Cras- 

8U8, and others, join Sulla 

82. Consulship of Papirius Carbo 

and the j'ounger Marius . . 

Defeat of Marius, who takes 
refuge in Praeneste . . . . 

Murder of Senators in Rome 
by order of Marius . . 

Great battle before the Colliue 
gate at Rome between Sulla 
and the Samnites . . . . 



CONTENTS, 



xzi 



B.C. Page 

Defeat of the Samnites . . 229 

Surrender ol Praeneste . . 2: 

Death of Marius 230 

End of the war 23 j 

Sulla master of Rome . . . . 2 

Prescription 230 

Dreadful scenes .... . . 23 . 

81. Sulla Dictator '.sSl 

He celebiatPS bis triumph 

over Mithiidates .. .. 131 

His treatment ol Italy. . . . 232 

His military colonies . . . . 232 

79. He resigns the Dictat' rship 232 

He retires to Puteoli . . . . 233 

78. Hisaeath 233 

His funeral 233 

Leges Cornellae — 
1. (a) Changes in the magis- 
tracy 234 

(V) Right of initiative 
taken from the Tri- 
bunes, and their power 

of veto shackled.. .. 234 



Page 
Tribunate made a 
bar to all higl er 

offices 234 

(c) Lex Annalis and 
sepai ation oi home 
irom loreign com- 
mands 234 

IJ. In the priestly colleges 234 
Repeal i.l the Lex Do- 

mitia .. 234 

HI. In the Senate . .. 235 
Increase in numbers, cor- 
responding increase of 
quaestors and abolition 
of censors' choice . . 235 
IV. In Jurisdiction .. .. 235 
Quaestiones Perpetuae.. 235 
Transference of the Ju- 
dicia from the Equites 
to the Senators .. .. 235 
General view of the Sullaii 
constitution 236 



CHAPTEE XXIX. 



From the Death of Sulla to thf. Consulship of Pompet and Ceassus, 
78-70 B.C. 



78. Consulship of Lepidus and 

Catuliis 237 

Lepidus attempts to repeal 

the laws of SiiUa .. .. 237 

Is opposed by Catulus . . . . 237 
Is defeated at the Mulvian 

Bridge 238 

Retires to Sardinia . . . . 238 

His death 238 

82 Sertorius in Spain 238 

79. Carries on war against Me- 

tellus 238 

Cn. Pompeius Magnus .. 238 

His birth 238 

89. Fights against the Italians 

under his father . . . . 238 

83. Joins Sulla 239 

81. Is sent into Sicily and Africa 239 

80. Enters Home in triumph. . 239 
78. Supports the aristocracy 

agiinst Lepidus . . . . 239 
76. Is sent into Spain to assist 

Metellus 240 



72. Assassination of Sertorius by 

Perperna 240 

72. Pompey finishes the war in 

Spain 240 

73. War of the Gladiators : Spar- 

tacus 241 

72 Spartacus defeats both Con- 
suls 241 

71. Crassus appointed to the com- 
mand of the war against 

the Gladiators 241 

Defeats and slays Spartacus 241 
Pompey cuts to pieces a body 

of Gladiators 242 

70. Consulship of Pompey and 

Crassus.. 242 

Pompey restores the Tribuni- 

tian power 242 

Law of L. Aurelius Cotta 
transferring the Judicia to 
the Senators, Equites, and 
Tribuni Aerarii 242 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

Thied or Great JIithuidatic War, 74-61 B.C. 



B.C. I'tige 

83. Second MrTHRiDATrc War — 

Murena invades Pontus . . 244 
82. Mithridates defeats Murena 244 
End of the Second Mithridatic 

War 245 

Preparations of Mitbridatss 245 
74 Third Mithridatic War — 
Mitiiridates defeats the Consul 

Cotta 246 

He lays siege to Cyzicus . . 246 
73. The siege is raised by Lucull us 246 
Lucullus defeats Mithridates 246 
72. Mithridates talces refuge in 

Armenia 246 

Lucullus settles the affairs of 

Asia 246 

69. He invades Armenia and de- 
feats Tigranes 2 47 

68. Lucullus defeats Tigranes 
and Mithridates, and lays 

siege to Nisibis 2 17 

67. Mithriiiates returns to Pon- 
tus, and defeats the gene- 
rals of Lucullus 248 

Mutiny in the army of Lu- 
cullus 248 

The command of the Mithri- 
datic War given to Glabrio 248 
- War with the Pirates.— 

Account of the Pirates .. 219 
Command of the war given 
by the Gabinian Law to 
Pompey 249 



B.C. Page 

Success of Pompey . . . . 250 
He finishes the war . . . . 250 
66. Third Mithridatic War, 

continued 250 

Command of the Mithridatic 
War given by the Manilian 

Law to Pompey 250 

It is opposed by the aris- 
tocracy 251 

It is supported by Cicero . . 251 
Pomppy defeats Mithridates 251 
Mithridates retires into the 

Cimmerian Bosporus . . 252 

Pompey invades Armenia .. 252 

Submission of Tigranes . . 252 

65. Pompey pursues Mithridates 232 

He advances as far as the 

river Pliasis 252 

He returns to Pontus, which 
he reduces to the form of a 
Roman province . . . . 252 
64. He marches into Syria, which 
he makes a Roman pro- 
vince 252 

63. He subdues Phoenicia and 

Palestine 253 

He takes Jerusalem . . . . 253 
Preparations of Mithridates 253 
Conspiracy against him . . 253 

His death 254 

Pompey settles the affairs of 
Asia 254 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

Internal History, trom the Cons^dlship of Pompey and Crassus to the 

Return of Pompey from the East : the Conspiracy of Catiline. 

69-61 B.C. 



State of parties at this time 255 

C. Jdlius Caesar 256 

100. His birth 256 

His early history . . . . 256 
His life endangered by 

Sulla 216 

81. He serves in Asia . . . , 256 

77. Accuses Dolabella . . . . 256 

Taken by the Pirates . . 256 

75. Studies in Rhodes . . . . 256 

68. Quaestor 257 

66. Curule Aodile 257 



Restores the statues of Ma- 

rius 257 

M. Tdllius Cicero — 

His birth 257 

Serves in the Social War. . 257 
His speech for Sfx. Ri scius 

of Ameria 258 

He studies in Athens .. 258 

He studies in Rhodes . . 258 

He returns to Rome. . .. 258 

Quaestor in Sicily . . . . 258 

He accuses Verrcs . . . . 258 



CONTENTS. 



B.C. i'age 

69. Aedile 259 

66. Praetor 259 

He speaks on behalf of the 

Manilian Law . . . , 259 

First conspiracy of Catiline 259 

History of Catiline . . . . 260 

63. Consulship of Cicero .. .. 261 

Agrarian law of RuUus .. 261 

Second conspiracy of Catiline 262 



B.C. Page 

Cataline quits Rome . . . . 262 

Cicero seizes the conspirators 263 

They are put to death . . . . 263 

(;2. Defeat and death of Cataline 264 

Popularity of Cicero . . . . 264 
Illegality of the execution of 

the conspirators 264 

Rumoured complicity of the 

democratic leaders . , , , 265 



CHAPTEK XXXII. 



From Pompet's Return from the East to Cicero's Banishment and 
Recall, 62-57 B.C. 



62. Pompey arrives in Italy 
61. Triumph of Pompey .. .. 
State of parties in Rome 

60. The Senate refuses to sanction 

Ponipey's measures in Asia 

61. Caesar as Propraetor in Spain 
His vittories in Spain . . 

60. He returns to Rome 

First Triumvirate . , . . 
59. Consulship of Caesar 

Agrarian Law for the division 

of the Campanian land 
Ratification of Pompey's acts 

in Asia 

Marriage of Julia, Caesar's 

daughter, with Pompey . . 
Caesar gains over the Equites 



266 
266 
267 

267 

268 
268 
268 
268 
268 



269 
269 



Vatinian Law, granting to Cae- 
sar the provinces of Cisalpine 
Gaul and lUyricum for five 

years 269 

Transalpine Gaul added.. .. 269 
62 Clodius profanes the rites of 

the Bona Dea 270 

61. His trial and acquittal . . . . 270 

His enmity against Cicero . . 270 

58. Tribune of the Plebs . . . . 270 

He accuses Cicero 270 

Banishment of Cicero .. .. 271 
57. Riots at Home between Clo- 
dius and Milo 271 

Return of Cicero from banish- 
ment 272 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



Caesar's Campaigns in Gaul, 58-51 B.C. 



6S. First Campaign 274 

He defeais the Helvetii . . 274 
Hedefeats Ariovistus and the 

Germans 274 

57. Second Campaign 274 

The Belgic War 274 

Great victory over the Nervii 275 

56. Third Campaign 275 

He defeats the Veneti. . . . 275 
He deff-ats the Morini and 

Menapii 275 

55. Fourth Campaign 275 

Caesar crosses the Rhine . . 276 

His first invasion of Britain 276 

51. Fifth Campaign 277 

His second invasion of Britain 277 
Revolt of the Eburones and 

Kervii 277 



They destroy the detachment 
of T. Tituriiis Sabinus and 
L. Aurunculeius Cotta . . 277 

They attack the camp of Q. 

Cicero 277 

53. Sixth Campaign 278 

Caesar puts down the revolt 
in Gaul 278 

He crosses the Rhine a f econd 

time 278 

52. Seventh Campaign 278 

Revolt of all Gaul .. .. 278 

Headed by Vercingetorix . . 278 

Caesar takes Alesia and Ver- 

cingetorix 279 

51. Eighth Campaign 280 

Pacification of Gaul . . . . 280 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Internal History from the Return of Cicero from Banishment to the 

Commencement of the Civil War: Expedition and Death of Crasbds. 

57-50 n.c. 



B.C. Page 
57. Cicero supports the Triumvirs 281 
Cicero's revult from the Trium- 
virs 281 

56. Pompey and Crassus meet Cae- 
sar at Luca 231 

Fresh arrangements for the 
continuance of their power 281 
55. Second Consulship of Pompey 

and Crassus 282 

The Trebonian Law, giving 
the two Spains to Pompey 
and Syria to Crassus, and 
the Pompeio-Licinian Law, 
prolonging Caesar's govern- 
ment for five years more . . 282 
Dedication of Pompey's theatre 282 
54. Crassus crosses the Euphrates 283 
He winters in Syria . . . . 283 
53. He again crosses the Euphrates 283 



B.C. Page 

Is defeated and slain near 

Carrhae 233 

54. Death of Julia 284 

53. Riots in Rome 284 

52. Murder of Clodius by Milo . . 284 
Pompey sole Consul . . . . 285 
Trial and condemnation of Milo 285 
51. Rupture between Caesar and 

Pompey 285 

Pompey joins the aiistocratical 

paity .. ., 286 

49. Proposition that Caesar should 

lay down his command . . 287 
The Senate invest the Consuls 

with dictatorial power . . 287 
The Tribunes Antony and 

Cassius fly to Caesar's camp 287 
Commencement of the Civil 
War 287 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

The Beginning of the Civil War to Caesar's Death, 49-44 B.C. 



49. Caesar at Ravenna 288 

He crosses the Rubicon. . . . 288 
His triumphal progress through 

Italy 289 

Pompey and his party fly from 

Rome to Brundusium. . ., 289 
They are pursued by Caesar. . 289 
They embarlt for Greece . . 289 
Caesar goes to Rome . . . . 289 
He sets out for Spain . . . . 290 
He conquers L. Afrainius and 
M. Petreius, Pompey's lieu- 
tenants in Spain 290 

He takes Massilia 290 

Is appointed Dictator, which 
office he holds only eleven 

days 291 

48. He sails from Brundusium to 

Greece 291 

He besieges Pompey at Dyrr- 

achium 292 

Is compelled to retire . . . . 292 
Battle of Pharsalus and defeat 

of Pompey 292 

Pompey flies to Egypt . . . . 293 

His death 293 

Caesar is appointed Dictator a 

second time 294 

The Alexandrine War . . . . 294 



47. Conclusion of the Alexandrine 

War 294 

Caesar marches into Pontus 

and defeats Pharnaces . . 294 

He sails to Africa 295 

46. Battle of Thapsus and defeat 

of the Pompeians 295 

Siege of Utica 295 

Death of Cato 295 

Caesar returns to Rome . . , . 295 

Honours voted to Caesar . . 295 

His triumph 296 

His reformation of the Calendar 296 

Insurrection in Spain . . . . 296 

Caesar sets out for Spain . . 296 

45. Battle of Munda and defeat of 

the Pompeians 296 

Caesar returns to Rome . . . . 297 

New honours voted to Caesar 297 
He is undisputed master of the 

Roman world 297 

Use he made of his power . . 297 

His vast projects 298 

44. Conspiracy against Caesar's life 298 

Brutus and Cassius 298 

Assassination of Caesar on the 

Ides of March 299 

Reflections on his death . . . , 299 

His character and genius . . 299 



CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 

From the Death of Caesar to the Battls of PniLippi, 44-^2 B.C. 



B.C. Page 

44. Proceedings of tbe conspirators 301 

Antony and Lepidus . . . . 301 

Pretended reconciliation . . 3^2 

Caesar's will .. .... .. 3l2 

His funeral 302 

Popular indignation against 

the conspirators 302 

They fly from Rome and talce 

possession of their provinces 302 
OcTAVins, Caesar's nephew, at 

lUyricum 303 

Is made Caesar's heir . . . . 303 

He proceeds to Rome . . . . 303 

His opposition to Antony . . 3o3 

He courts the Senate . . . . 303 

Cicero's opposition to Antony 304 
43. Antony proceeds to Cisalpine 

Gaul, and lays siege to 

Mutina 304 

Octavian and the Consuls Hir- 

tiuB and Pansa march against 

Antony 304 

They fight with Antony . . 304 

Death of Hirtius and Pansa . . 305 
Antony is defeated, and crosses 

the Alps 305 



B c. Page 

Octavian marches to Rome . . 305 

Is declared Consul 305 

Breaks with the Senate, and 
outlaws the murderers of 

Caesar 305 

Marches against Antony and 

Lepidus 305 

Is reconciled with them .. 305 

Second Triumvirate . . . . 306 

The Triumvirs enter Rome 306 

Dreadful scenes 30fi 

Death of Cicero 307 

Sextus Pompeius master of 

Sicily and the Mediterranean 301 
He defeats the fleet of the Tri- 
umvirs 308 

Brutus obtains possession of 

Macedonia 308 

Cassius, of Syria 308 

Their proceedings in the East 308 

They plunder Asia Minor . . 308 
42. They return to Europe to meet 

the Triumvirs 309 

Battles at Philippi 309 

Death of Brutus and Cassius . . 309 



CHAPTER XXXVn. 

From the Battle of Philippi to the Battle of Actium, 41-30 b.c. 



41. Antony remains in the East . . 311 
He meets Cleopatra at Tarsus 311 
He accompanies her to Alex- 
andria 312 

Octavian returns to Rome . . 311 

Confusion in Italy 312 

Confiscation of lands .. .. 312 
Fulvia the wife of Antonj', 
andL. Antonius, his brother, 
rise against Octavian . . .. 312 
They take refuge in Perusia.. 312 
40. Capture of Perusi«, and end of 

the war . . 312 

The Parthians invade Syria . . 313 
Antony joins Sextus Pompeius 
and lays siege to Brun- 

dusium 313 

Reconciliation between Antony 

and Octavian 313 

Fresh division of the Roman 

world 313 

Antony marries Octavia.. .. 313 



39. Peace with Sextus Pompeius 

at Misenum 314 

Ventidius, the Legate of An- 
tony, defeats the Parthians 314 
38. He again defeats the Parthians 314 

Death of Pacorus 314 

War with Sextus Pompeius . . 315 
He destroys the fleet of Oc- 
tavian 315 

37. Antony comes to Tarentum. . 315 
Triumvirate renewed for an- 
other period of five years .. 315 
36. Renewal of the war with Sex- 
tus Pompeius 315 

His defeat 316 

He flies to Asia 316 

Lepidus deprived of his Tri- 
umvirate 316 

35. Death of PompeiU'^ 316 

30. Antony joins Cleopatra . . . . 316 

His infatuation 317 

He invades Partbia 317 



XXVI 



CONTENTS. 



B.C. Page 

His disastrous retreat .. .. 317 

34. He invades Armenia . . . . 317 

Octavian subdues the Dalma- 
tians 317 

His prudent corn I uct .. .. 317 
33. Rupture between Octavian 

and Antony 318 

32. War against Cleopatra . . . . 318 

31. Battle of Actlum 318 

Defeat of Antony 318 



B.C. Page 

He flies to Alexandria .. .. 318 

30. Death of Antony and Cleopatra 319 
Egypt made a Roman posses- 
sion 320 

End of the Republic . . . . 320 

29. Triumph of Octavian . . . . 320 

27. He receives the title of Au- 
gustus 320 

His policy 320 

The Principate 32ii 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

Skktch of tee History op Roman Literature from the Earliest Times 
TO the Death of Augustus. 



POETRT — 

Folk-songs in the Satumian 

Metre 322 

Commencement of Roman 

Literature 322 

The Drama — 

240. M. Livius Andronicus.. 323 

235. Cn. Naevius 323 

239-169. Q. Ennius 323 

254-184. T. Maccius Plautus . . 324 

195-159. P. TerentiusAfer.. .. 325 

168 {died). Statius Caecilius . . 325 

\m {flourished), h. Xiramas .. 325 

220-131. M. Pacuvius 325 

140 {born). L. Accius 325 

Comoediae Togatae . . . . 325 

Comoediae Palliatae .-, ., 325 

Fabulae Praetextatae .. . . 325 

Atellanae Fabulae 326 

Mimes 326 

45 {acted). D. Laberius . . . . 326 

P. Byrus 326 

Fescennine Songs 326 

Satire 326 



180-103. C. Lucilius 327 

96-55. T. Lucretius Carus . , 327 

87-54. Valerius Catullus . . . . 328 

70-19. P. VergiliusMaro.. .. 328 

65-8. Q. Horatius Flaccus . . 330 

30 {flourished). Albius Ti 

buUus 332 

51 (&(»•«). Sextus Propertius 332 
B.C. a.d. 

43 - 18. P. Ovidius Naso .. ,. 333 

B.C. 

Prose Writers— 

The Annalists 334 

210 {flourished). Q. Fabius 

Pictor 334 

L. Cincius Alimentus . . 33 1 

234-149. M. Porcius Cato .. .. 331 

106-43. M. TuUlus Cicero.. .. 334 

117-28. M. Terentius Varro .. 335 

100-44. C. Julius Caesar .. .. 336 

86-34. C. Sallustius Crispus . . 336 

Cornelius Nepos . . . . 33ij 

B.C. A.D. 

59-17. Titus Livius 336 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

The Empire from Augustus to Trajan, b.c. 29 to a.d. 117. 

Prepared by Mr. G. Middleton, M.A., late lecturer in Latin in the University oj 
Aberdeen, under the direction of Professor W. if. Ramsay, M.A., D.C.L. 

Augustus retains command of 

the soldiers 339 

The Senate control the peace- 
ful provinces 339 

26. Augustus goes to Spain .. 3i0 

22. Maecenas' position 342 

21. Augustus goes to regulate the 

East anew 342 

The Parthians submit . . . . 342 
18. Leges Juliae passed reforming 

society ,. .. 342 



29. Octavian consolidates the ad- 
ministration of tlie pro- 
vinces and enters Rome in 

triumph.. .. ' 338 

He effects a transformation of 

the government 338 

He retires into private life . . 338 
The Senate refuse to accept his 

resignation 338 

29. Title of Augustus conferred 

upon Octavian 339 



CONTENTS. 



B.C. Page 

10-13. Augustus visits Gaul . . 342 

Agrippa has charge of Eastern 

frontier countries. Northern 

wars entrusted to Tiberius 

and Drusus 343 

15. Tribes of Tyrol, Rhaeti, Vin- 

delici, conquered 343 

Death of Agrippa and Drusus 343 

A.D. 

9. Revolt of Arminius in north- 
west Germany 34"? 

Annihilation of Varus' legions 343 

13. Germanicus succeeds Tiberius 

in command 343 

Elbe frontier abandoned and 
Rhine-Danube frontier sub- 
stituted 343 

Augustus' later life unevent- 
ful ; succeeds Lepidus as 
Pontifex Maximus, 12 b.c. 
In 2 B.C. receives title of 
pater patriae 343 

14. Death of Augustus 344 

Accession of Tiberius . . . . 344 
Discontent in the army.. .. 345 
Comitia discontinued . . . . 345 
Germanicus defeats the Marsi 345 

17. Germanicus sent to the East, 

makes terms with Parthia 345 

19. Germanicus dies at Antioch. . 345 
17-24. Junius Blaesus defeats 

Tacfarinas 346 

C. Silius crushes insurrection 

in Gaul 346 

28. Revolt of the Frisii suppressed 316 
Increase of the influence of the 

delatores 346 

23. Rise and influence of Aelius 

Sejanus 346 

26. Tiberius leaves Rome for 

Capreae 346 

31. Fall and execution of Sejanus 347 

Character of Tiberius . . . . 347 

37. His death 347 

37. Accession of Caligula . . .. 347 

His good intentions not realized 347 

His inordinate vanity and folly 348 

41. Assassinated by conspirators 348 

Accession of Claudius . . . . 348 
Passes useful reforms and 

completes public works . . 348 
Makes changes in the Eastern 

administration 349 

43. Claudius invades Britain and 

conquers the southern part 349 

Intrigue and fall of Messalina 349 
Claudius marries Agrippina 

the younger 349 

54. Death of Claudius 349 

Accession of Nero 349 

His dissipation 349 



A.D. Page 

The State administered by 

Seneca and Burrus . . . . 349 
59. Nero puts his mother to death 349 
61. Iceni under Boadicea defeated 

in Britain 350 

64. Great fire in Rome 350 

Accusation and persecution of 

the Christians 350 

66. Nero visits Greece 350 

68. Revolt of Gaul under Vindex 

and Spain under Galba . . 350 

Suicide of Nero 350 

Accession of Galea .. .. 350 
His unpopularity and revolt 
of the Praetorian guards 
under Otho 350 

69. Galba put to death in the 

Forum 351 

Accession of Otho in Rome . . 351 
Otho's army defeated by Vi- 

tellius 351 

Death of Otho and accession of 

ViTELLins 351 

Vespasian proclaimed emperor 

by the Eastern legions . . 351 
Vitellius defeated by Primus 351 
Disturbances among the Batavi 351 

70. Arrival of Vespasian in Rome 352 
Campaign of Titus against the 

Jews 352 

Sack of Jerusalem, Judaea 

made a province 352 

Good government of Vespasian 352 
Provincial administration vi- 
gorously managed . . . . 352 
77. Vespasian continues the con- 
quest of Britain 352 

79. Death of Vespasian .. .. 352 

Accession of Titus 352 

His popularity and munifi- 
cence 352 

The great eruption of Vesuvius 
and destruction of Pompeii 352 
81. Early death of Titus . . . . 353 
Accession of Domitian . . . . 353 

83. Leads campaign against the 

Chatti, and assumes title of 
Germanicus 353 

84. Caledonian chief Calgacus de- 

feated 353 

Continued wars against the 

Suevi 353 

96. Assassination of Domitian . . 353 
His character, and persecution 

of the Christians 353 

Spread of Christianity . . . . 354 
Accession of Nerv a .. .. 354 
Adopts Trajan as his consort 

and dies 354 

98. Accession of Trajan .. .. 354 
His vigour and greatness . . 354 



CONTENTS. 



101-104. His conquest of Dece- 

balus in Dacia . . . . 354 
106-114. Trajan's good work at 

Rome 354 

His attention to roads 
and public buildings. . 355 
His excellent control of 
the provinces . . . . 355 



A.D. Page 

112. Trajan forbids hetaeriae of 

Christians in Bithynia . . 355 

113. Trajan goes to the East and 

subdues Parthia with great 

success 355 

117. Trajan dies on his homeward 

journey in Cilicia , , . . 355 



CHAPTERS XL, XLI. 

The Empire from Hadrian to Constantine. The Barbarian Invasions. The 
Decline and Pall of the Empire. 

Prepared hy F. M. Colby, Formerly Professor of Economics, New York University. 



117. Accession of Hadrian . . 356 
Hadrian gives up Parthia 356 
119-138. His visits to the pro- 
vinces ; his public 

works 356 

131-135. Revolt of the Jews . . 356 
138. Accession of Antoninus 

Pius ; his peaceful reign 356, 357 
161. Accession of Marcus Aure- 

Lius ; his character . . . . 357 
162-166. War with the Parthians 357 
167-175. War with the Marco- 

maniii, Quadi, etc. . . 357 
178-180. Further defeats of the 

Marcomanni . . . . 357 
180-193. Reign of Commodus 357, 358 
193. Sway of the Praetorians . . 358 
193. Accession of Septimius Se- 

verus 358 

211-217. Despotism of Cara- 

CALLA 359 

251. Invasion of the Goths . . 359 
260-273. The "Thirty Tyrants" 359 
284. Accession of Diocletian . . 360 
The new system of admin- 
istration ; two Augusti and 

two Caesars 360 

303. Persecution oi the Chris- 
tians 360 

323. Constantine becomes sole 

emperor, after several wars 
with rivals 361 

324. Christianity the state re- 

ligion 361 

Capital of the empire re- 
moved to Constantinople 361 

325. Council of Nice 361 

337. Death of Constantine ; mas- 
sacre of his relatives ; di- 



vision of the empire and 
civil war 362 

361. Accession of Julian . . . . 363 
Brief restoration of pa- 
ganism 363 

364. First division of the empire 

into East and West . . . . 363 

376. The Goths admitted into 

Moesia 363 

378. Battle of Adrianople . . . . 364 

379. Theodosius becomes em- 

peror of the East . . . . 364 
He restores order, and 
becomes supreme also in 
the West 364 

395. Death of Theodosius, and 

final division of the empire 364 
The real power passes into 
the hands of barbarian 
ministers 365 

396-412. Invasions of Alaric and 

the Visigoths . . . . 365 

403. Defeat of Alaric at Pollentia, 
by Stilicho, minister of 
the Western Empire . . 365 

406. Stilicho defeats the Vandals 

and Goths 365 

410. Alaric sacks Rome . . . . 366 

419. Visigothic monarchy found- 
ed in Gaul 366 

429-439. Vandal kingdom found- 
ed in Africa . . . . 367 

451. Defeat of the Huns, under 

Attila, at Chalons . . . . 367 

452. Attila invades Italy . . . . 367 
455. The Vandals sack Rome . . 367 
476. The last emperor of the West 

is deposed, and Italy be- 
comesa barbarian kingdom 368 



Genealogical Tables of the House of Augustus 369, 370 

Index 371 




Vergil. 



LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. 



The Roman Forum 

Pnteal on a coin of the Scribonia Gens 



Frontispiece 
Title Page 



Julius Caesar vii 

Vergil . . . . xxix 

Urn showing forms of cottages of 

the ancient Latins 1 

Prehistoric gate at Arpinum . . 1 

The wolf of the Capitol ... 8 

Salii carrying the ancilia . . . . 13 

Augur's victims 19 

Remains of the Servian wall . . 20 

The Cloaca Maxima ... . 22 
Coin representing the children 

of Brutus led to death by 

lictors 34 

The Campagna 35 

Tarpeian Rock . . 43 

View from the neighbourhood of 

Veil 50 

Fragment of sculpture from the 

pediment of the Temple of 

Jupiter Capitolinus 55 

Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus 

(from a coin) 63 

Samnite warriors (from a mural 

painting at Paestum) . . . . 64 

Coin of Pyrrhus 74 

Coin representing Temple of Vesta 83 
Roman galley (from Trajan's 

Column) 84 

Columna Rostrata 88 



Fighting elephant making a pri- 
soner (gem in "Cabinet de 
France," No.l911 (Chabouillet)) 94 

Coin of Carthage 95 

Coin of Hiero 100 

Lake Trasimenus 101 

Capua 110 

Hannibal 120 

Soldiers blowing Tubae and Cornua 

(from Column of Trajan). . . . 

Coin of Antiochus the Great 

'■ Dying Galatian" (so-called dying 

gladiator). From the original 

in the Museum of the Capitol. . 

Roman soldiers (from Column of 

Trajan) 

A Roman general addressing his 

soldiers 

Lictors 

Scipio Africanus 153 

Head of Perseus. From a gem in 

the British Museum 162 

The Roman Forum, looking west 179 

A Roman trophy ]92 

German priestess in chariot drawn 
by oxen (from Antonine Column ) 201 
Fasces (from the original in the 

Capitol of Rome) 205 

Caius Marius 206 



127 
128 



136 



137 



140 
141 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Coin of the eight Italian nations 

taking the Oath of Federation 211 

Roman in toga . . . . . , . . 214 

Terracina 215 

Mount Argaeus in Cappadocia . . 221 
Coin of Nicomedes III., king of 

Bithynia 225 

Brundusium 226 

Coin of Sulla . .• 236 

Cn. Pompeius Magnus 237 

Coin of Mithridates 244 

Coin of Tigranes 254 

Cicero 255 

Coin of Pompey 265 

C. Julius Caesar 266 

Temple of Nomausus {Nimes), 

now called the Maison Carrie 273 



Outline view of the Maison Carree 

at Nimes 280 

Coin of Caesar 281 

Brutus 288 

Statue of a Roman, representing 

the toga (from the Louvre) . . 300 

M. Antonius 301 

Coin of Antony and Cleopatra . . 310 
Coin of Augustus, with head of 

M. Agrippa on the reverse . . 311 
Coin of Augustus commemor.iting 

the conquest of Egypt . . . . 321 

Medal of Horace 322 

Maecenas (from the Carlisle gem) 338 

Coin of Augustus 349 



LIST OF MAPS. 



PAGE 

Coloured Map of Italy and the adjoining coasts, with plan of 

Rome . . . . . . . . . . To face 1 

Map of Rome and surrounding country . . . . . . „ 40 

Map of Italy, Spain, and Africa, after the First Punic War, show- 
ing Hannibal's route .. To face 100 

Plan of Syracuse .. .. .. .... .. .. 115 

Plan of Carthage 171 

Map of the Roman Empii'e at fhe death of Caesar To face 300 

PlanofActium .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 318 

Map of the Roman Empire during the later years of Augustus 

To face 344 



ABBREVIATED FORMS OF ROMAN PERSONAL NAMES (praenomina) 



A. represents 


Aulus. 


Ap. 


Appius. 


c. 


Caius, or GaiuE 


Cn. 


Cnaeus, or Gnaeus. 


D. 


Decimus. 


L. 


Lucius. 


M. 


Marcus. 


M'. 


Manius. 


P. 


Publius. 


Q. 


Quintus. 


Ser. 


Servius. 


Sp. 


Spurius. 


T. 


Titus. 


Ti. 


Tiberius. 




Ura showing forms of cottage' of the ancient Latins. 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE PEOPLES OF ITALY. 

Italy is the central one of the three great peninsulas ■which 

project from the south of Europe into the Mediterranean Sea. 

It is bounded on the north by*the chain of the „, 
AT 1 • u r J. 1 1 • • 4. • The peninsula 

Alps, which form a natural barrier against in- ^f j^^jy 

vasion ; on the west its shores are washed by the 
TjTrhenian Sea, called by the Romans the Lower Sea (Mare 
Inferum), on the east by the Adriatic or Upper Sea (Mare 
Superum). All its best harbours lie on the west, and con- 
sequently it is in this direction that Rome's earliest trade-routes 
lay, and her earliest imperial acquisitions were made. 

The peninsula itself may be divided into two parts, the northern 
consisting of the great plain drained by the river Padus or Po 
and its numerous tributaries, and the southern being a long 



2 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. I. 

tong;ue of land, with the Apennines as a back-hone running down 
its whole extent from north to south. The extreme length of 
the peninsula from the Alps to the Straits of Messina is 700 
miles. The breadth of Northern Italy is 350 miles, while that 
of the southern portion is on an average not more than 100 
miles. But till the time of the Empire the Romans never 
included the plain of the Po in Italy. To this country they 
gave the name of Gallia Cisalpina, or Gaul on this (the 
Roman) side of the Alps, in consequence of its being inhabited 
by Gauls. The westernmost portion of the plain was peopled 
by Ligurian tribes, and was therefore called Ligukia, while its 
eastern extremity was inhabited by the Veneti. 

The name Italia was originally apphed to a very small 
tract of country. It was confined to the extreme south of the 

peninsula, which at a still earlier period had been 
It^ U°*°^* called Oenotria ; by the fifth century B.C. it had 

come to include the territory, subsequently known 
as Lucania and Bruttium, stretching along the shores of the 
Tarentine gulf south of a line drawn from Metapontum to 
Paestum, and by the time of the Punic wars, in the third 
century B.C., it had spread over the whole peninsula south of 
the rivers Rubicon and Macra, which parted Umbria and Etruria 
from the northern districts of the valley of the Po. Italy, 
properly so called, is a very mountainous country, being filled 
up more or less by the broad mass of the Apennines, the ofi"- 
shoots or lateral branches of which, in some parts, descend quite 
to the sea, but in others leave a considerable space of level or 
low country. There are fewer land-locked valleys than in 
Greece, and the open plains are eminently suitable for the 
growth of leagues or federations between towns. 

The population of the peninsula south of the 
Italy ^^ ® Alps was of a very varied character. It may be 

divided into no less than six great branches. 
1. The Gauls represent at once the most northerly and the 
youngest of the races of Italy. They belong to the great family 
. of the Celts, whose presence in the peninsula was 

due to two separate migrations, both of which 
took place long after the other races of Italy had been settled 
in their separate localities. Tradition says that the first swarm 
of Celts passed the Alps in the reign of the elder Tarquin 



Chap. I.] THE PEOPLES OF ITALY. 3 

(616-578 B.C.) ; a second migration, which planted the Senones, 
the most southerly of these tribes, on the shores of the Adriatic 
east of Umbria, is connected with the great Gallic invasion 
which ended in the capture of Kome (390 B.C.). Previously to 
these movements the northern regions of Cisalpine Gaul had 
been in the hands of the Ligurians, the southern in those of the 
Umbrians, while the Etruscans possessed scattered settlements 
north of the Apennines. The result of the migrations was to 
spread the Gallic name from the Alps to the Apennines and 
the Adriatic. The most important of the Gallic tribes were the 
Insubres and Cenomani to the north of the Po, and the Boii and 
Lingones to the south of that river, 

2. West and south of Gaul lay Liguria, the country of the 
Ligures (or Ligues, as they were called by the Greeks). The 
origin of this race is quite unknown ; it had once »,. y . 
occupied much of the territory subsequently over- ° 

run by the Gauls, and in historical times it extended at least 
from the upper reaches of the Po, but possibly even from the 
Poenine Alps (the Great St. Bernard) to the river Macra on 
the south. The chief northern tribe was that of the Taurini, but 
the tribes with which we find Kome most frequently brought 
into hostile contact were those of the south, the Intemilii, 
Ingauni, and Apuani, lying between the Apennines and the sea, 
and the Friniates to the east of this range. 

The north-eastern portion of Italy, from the river Athesia 
(Adige) to the Julian Alps was occupied by the Veneti. They 
were doubtless of the same race as the Istrians and Liburnians 
on the other side of the Adriatic, and are said to have belonged 
to the great Ligurian stock. 

3. The Etruscans were known as Etrusci or Tusci to the 

Romans, as Tyrrheni to the Greeks ; but their own native name 

for themselves was Rasena. They formed a 

• The 

striking contrast to the nations of Central and x-tmsoaiiB 

Southern Italy ; for their language is wholly 

different from that of the other Italian tribes, and shows no 

resemblance to the languages of the Indo-European group, while 

their manners and customs clearly prove them to be a people 

originally quite distinct from the Greek and Italian races, 

although they showed themselves very susceptible to Greek 

culture. Their influence on the early customs of Rome was 



4 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. I. 

necessarily great, for the Etruscans possessed a fully developed 
civilization when Kome was but an infant state ; but it was an 
influence that, so far as we can see, affected little beyond the 
ceremonies and religious institutions of Kome. It was from them 
that she derived the science of augury, and perhaps the very 
idea of priestly colleges or guilds ; while tradition adds that the 
symbols of Roman royalty, the purple robe, the ivory sceptre, and 
the curule chair, came from Etruria. The origin of this strange 
race is wholly uncertain. Most ancient writers relate that the 
Etruscans were Lydians who had migrated by sea from Asia to 
Italy ; it is now more generally believed that they descended 
into Italy from the Ehaetian Alps. Yet Etruscan civilization 
shows the deepest traces of Oriental influence, and, if the hypo- 
thesis that connects the Etruscans with the Rhaeti is correct, it is 
probable that they were an Alpine people, whose art and customs 
were profoundly modified by intermixture with immigrants from 
the East. In early times they had maintained settlements in the 
great plain of the Po, until they were expelled or subdued by the 
invading Gauls. The country known as Etruria in historic 
times extended along the coast of the Lower Sea from the 
river Macra on the north to the Tiber on the south. Inland, the 
Tiber also formed its eastern boundary, dividing it first from 
Umbria, afterwards from the Sabines, and, lastly, from Latium. 
4. We next come to the Italian races proper, which inhabited 
the centre and most of the south of the peninsula. The evidence 

of language proves that the common stock from 
Tne tauan ^rjiich these races sprang falls into two great 

branches : (1) the Umbrian and Sabelhan ; (2) the 
Latin. The differences between- these groups of languages are 
little more than the differences between dialects of the same 
tongue, and show the clearest traces of a common origin. They 
are closely related to the Greek, but still more closely to the Celtic; 
and this connection, combined with the great resemblance between 
the fundamental social and political institutions of the Greeks and 
Romans, make it probable that the Italian, Celtic, and Greek 
races dwelt together for a long period during their journey from 
the East, and that when the Greeks parted from their kinsmen 
at the head of the Adriatic, Italians and Celts still continued for 
a time in close contact with one another. The Gauls, in fact, 
were not only near neighbours, but near kinsmen of the Romans. 



Chap. I.] THE PEOPLES OF ITALY. 5 

The Umbrians dwelf, in historic times, in Eastern Italy between 
Etruria and the Adriatic. The district of Umbria had once 
been far more extensive, but its possessions west rpt, tt i, • 
of the Apennines had fallen to Etruria, and the 
Gallic tribe of Senones finally annexed the territory on the 
Adriatic coast. The language of the Umbrians is the most 
ancient tongue of the family to which it belongs, and verifies the 
tradition that the Umbrians were one of the oldest nations of Italy. 

The VoLScrANS, a race afterwards merged in Latiura, show 
the nearest resemblance in language to the Umbrians. They were 
at first a nation distinct from the Latins, and, my^ tt i • 
though they lost their independence as a separate 
state, inscriptions show that they long preserved their language 
unimpaired. Other tribes bordering on Latium are the Aequians 
and Hernicans. We know little of them beyond their close 
international relations with the Volscians. 

It is doubtful to which division of the family of the Umbrians 
and Sabellians the Sabtnes belonged ; for their language early 
fell into disuse, and only a few words have been 
preserved. But they probably belonged to the 
Sabellian branch. They are said to have been originally a 
mountain race dwelling near the sources of the Arnus on the 
ridge of the Apennines which lies between Umbria and Etruria. 
Thence they descended into the valleys between Umbria and 
Latium, which they occupied in historic times. They preserved 
their simple mountaineering habits, and are described as brave, 
hardy, and frugal. Tradition has much to tell of their early in- 
fluence on Rome, and this is natural, for the Sabine city of Cures 
was but twenty-four miles from Rome. Amongst Sabine tribes 
we may, perhaps, reckon the Picentines, occupying a fertile strip 
of territory on the coast of the Adriatic ; and the Paeligni, 
Marsi, Marrtjcini, and Vestini, lying south of this district. 

The Sabellian races are those which are known to have 
spoken a common tongue, sometimes called Oscan. They spread 
over the greater part of Central and Southern Italy, q v iv 

and are represented by the Samnites, with their j^^^gg a e an 
offshoots the Campanians and Lucanians. 

The Samnites, the most powerful of these races, occupied 
an inland district in the region of the central Apennines. On 
the west they commanded the valley of the Vulturnus bordering 



« HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. 1. 

on Campania. On the east they early extended beyond the 
limits of Saranium proper to the sea ; for the Frentani on the 
north-east were a Samnite people, and it is probable that at 
least the northern part of Apulia was conquered and occupied 
by Samnite tribes. But their greatest conquests were on the 
west and south. In the fifth century B.C. they conquered the 
whole of the rich province of Campania, the garden of Italy. 
This district, stretcliing from the Liris to the Silarus, forms, for 
the most part, an unbroken plain, celebrated in ancient as well 
as in modern times for its extraordinary beauty and fertility. 
The Greek cities of this coast alone retained their independence 
and their territories. Shortly alterwards the Samnites spread 
through the whole of Lucania. But, although the Lucanians 
appear in history as a Samnite people, they have broken away 
from the control of the main body of their countrymen. They 
have formed a state of their own, and they rule not only over 
Lucania, but oyer the native peoples to the south as far as the 
strait which separates Italy from Sicily. 

These native peoples at last threw off the Lucanian yoke, and 
appear in history as the Brutii. 

The Latins, like the Samnites, are represented as having 
been originally a mountaineering race dwelling in the central 
_, _ . Apennines, from which they descended into the 

regions between the mountains and the sea. Even 
here the Latins were for a time but an insignificant people over- 
shadowed by the gi'eat Etruscan power in the north and sur- 
rounded on all other sides ' by hostile tribes. The original 
Latium was a narrow territory extending from the Tiber to the 
Volscian mountains, and from the Apennines about Praeneste 
to the sea. But Latin conquest subsequently absorbed the 
Volscians and Aurunci, and the name Latium was spread to 
the Liris on the borders of Campania. The original abode of 
the Latins is of volcanic origin. The Alban mountains are a 
great volcanic mass, and several of the craters have been filled 
with water, forming lakes, of which the Alban lake is one of the 
most remarkable. The plain in which Rome stands, now called 
the Campagna, is not an unbroken level, but a broad undulating 
tract, intersected by numerous streams, which have cut them- 
selves deep channels through the soft volcanic tufa of which the 
soil is composed. The climate of Latium was not healthy even 



Chap. I.] THE PEOPLES OF ITALY. 7 

in ancient times. The malaria of the Campagna renders Rome 
itself unhealthy in the summer and autumn ; and the Pontine 
marshes, which extend along the coast in the south of Latium 
for a distance of thirty miles, are still more pestilential. 

5. A primitive people, whose language, as known from 
inscriptions, differs widely from those of the Umbrians and 
Sabellians, were represented by the lapygians and 



The 
lapygians. 



Messapians of Calabria. Yet the language shows 
resemblances to both Greek and Latin, and bears 
out the tradition that the lapygians were Pelasgi, or pre-historic 
inhabitants of Italy. They were probably the earliest Aryan 
settlers who were driven towards the extremity of the peninsula 
as the Latins and Sabellians pressed further to the south. 

6. The Greeks planted so many colonies upon the coasts 
of Southern Italy that they gave to that diptrict the name of 
Magna Graecia. The most ancient, and at the mi, p i^ 
same time the most northerly', Greek city in Italy 
was Cumae in Campania. Most of the other Greek colonies 
were situated farther to the south, where many of them 
attained to great power and wealth. Of these some of the 
most distinguished were Tarentum, Croton, Metapontum, and 
Sybaris, which was destroyed in 510 B.C., and was replaced in 
443 B.C. by the town of ihurii. 




Prehistoric gate at Arpinum. 




The wolf of the Capitol. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE EARLY KINGS AND THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION OF 
ROME. 



The history of Rome is that of a city which originallj^ had only 
a few miles of territory, and gradually extended its dominion 

at first over Italy and then over the civilized 
Eom?*^ °' "^oM. The city lay in the central part of the 

peninsula, on the left bank of the Tiber, and 
about fifteen miles from its month. It appears from the first 
as the most important town of Latium, and this importance 
must have been due to its site. Its commercial greatness was 
due to its situation on a navigable river, which provided a safe 
refuge for ships at a time when the Lower Sea was swept by 
Etruscan fleets ; its military strength was due to its position 
upon the borders of two of the most powerful races in Italjf^, the 
Sabines and the Etruscans. 

Though originally a Latin town, it received at an early period 
a considerable Sabine population, while it appears nearly certain 
that a part of its population was of Etruscan origin, and that the 
two Tarquins represent the establishment of an Etruscan djmasty 
at Rome.* But Roman civilization is in all essential points 
different from the Etruscan, and that the Latin element pre- 
dominated over the Sabine is evident from the fact that the 

* See ch. iii. p. 20. 



Chap. II.] EARLY TRADITIONS. 9 

language of the Komans was a Latin and not a Sabellian 
dialect. 

The early history of Rome as given by the Roman writers 
is a mass of popular tradition worked up by poets, annahsts, 
and antiquarians into a professed record of fact. 
Not only is it full of marvellous tales and poetical . dit^ons 
embellishments, of contradictions and impossi- 
bilities, but it wants the very foundation upon which all history 
must be based. Many of tiie legends are simply attempts to 
explain the origin of certain political and religious customs 
existing in the Republic ; and, although the political civilization 
of early Rome can be discovered with some degree of certainty, 
it is not until we come to the war with Pyrrhus that we can 
place fuU reliance upon the narrative as a trustworthy statement 
of events. With this caution we now proceed to relate the 
celebrated legends of the foundation and early history of Rome. 

Rome is thought to have arisen with the fall of Troy, for, 
on the capture of that town, Aeneas, son of Anchises and 
Venus, fled to seek a new home in a foreign land. 
He carried with him his son Ascanius, the Penates Aeneas 
or household gods, and the Palladium of Troy.* 
Upon reaching the coast of Latium he was kindly received by 
Latinus, the king of the country, who gave him his daughter 
Lavinia in marriage. Aeneas now built a city, which he 
named Lavinium, in honour of his wife. But Lavinia had been 
previously promised to Turnus, the leader of the Rutulians. 
This youthful chief, enraged at the insult, attacked the strangers. 
He was slain, however, by the hands of Aeneas; but in a new 
war which broke out three years afterwards, the Trojan hero 
disappeared amid the waters of the river Numicius, and was 
henceforward worshipped under the name of Jupiter Indiges, 
or " god of the country." 

Ascanius, who was also called lulus, removed from Lavinium, 
thirty years after its foundation, and built Alba 
Longa, or the "Long White City," on a ridge ^iba Lofga 
of the Alban Mount about fifteen miles south-east 
of Rome. It became the most powerful city in Latium, and the 

* The Palladium was a statue of Pallas, or Minerva, which was said to have 
fallen from heaven, and was preserved at Kome with the most sacred ewe. 



10 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. II. 

head of a confederacy of Latin cities. Twelve kings of the 
family of Aeneas succeeded Ascanius. The last of these, 
named Procas, left two sons, Numitor and Amulius. Amulius, 
the younger, seized the kingdom ; and Numitor, who was ot a 
peaceful disposition, made no resistance to his brother. 

Amulius, fearing lest the children of Numitor might not 
submit so quietly to his usurpation, caused his only son to be 
murdered, and made his daughter, Ehea Silvia, one of the 
vestal virgins, who were compelled to live and die unmarried. 
But the maiden became, by the god Mars, the mother of twins. 
She was in consequence put to death, because she had broken 
her vow, and her babes were doomed to be drowned in the 
river. The Tiber had overflowed its banks far and wide ; and 
the cradle in which the babes were placed was stranded at the 
foot of the Palatine, and overturned on the root of a wild 
fig tree. A she-wolf, which had come to drink of the stream, 
carried them into her den hard by, and suckled them ; and 
when they wanted other food, the woodpecker, a bird sacred 
to Mars, brought it to them. At length this marvellous spectacle 
was seen by Faustulus, the king's shepherd, who 
Kemus ^'^'^^ ^^^ children home to his wife, Acca Larentia. 

They were called Romulus and Remus, and grew 
up along with the sons of their foster-parents on the Pala- 
tine hill. 

A quarrel arose between them and the herdsmen of Numitor, 
who stalled their cattle on the neighbouring hill of the Aventine. 
Remus was taken by a stratagem, and carried off to Numitor. 
His age and noble bearing made Numitor think of his grand- 
sons; and his suspicions were confirmed by the tale of the 
marvellous nurture of the twin brothers. Soon afterwards 
Romulus hastened with his foster-father to Numitor ; suspicion 
was changed into certainty, and the old man recoenized them 
as his kindred. They now resolved to avenge the wrongs which 
their family had suffered. With the help of faithful comrades 
they slew Amulius. and placed Numitor on the throne. 

Romulus and Remus loved their old abode, and therefore left 
Alba to found a city on the banks of the Tiber. But a dispute 
arose between the brothers where the city should be built, and 
after whose name it should be called. Romulus wished to build 
it on the Palatine, Remus on the Aventine. It was agreed that 



Chap. IL] FOUNDATION OF ROME. 11 

the question should be decided by the gods ; and each took his 
station on the top of his chosen hill, awaiting the pleasure of 
the gods by some striking sign. The night passed away, and 
as the day was dawning Kemus saw six vultures ; but at sun- 
rise, when these tidings were brought to Romulus, twelve 
vultures flew by him. Each claimed the augury in his own 
favour ; but the shepherds decided for Romulus, and Remus 
was therefore obliged to yield. Such was the legendary ex- 
planation of the later Roman custom of the taking of auspices 
by a magistrate. 

1. Reign of Romulus, 753-717 b.c. — Romulus, on gaining 
this divine sanction, proceeded to mark out the boundaries of 
his city. He yoked a bullock and a heifer to a 
plough, and drew a deep furrow round the Palatine, -^qj^^q 
This formed the sacred limits of the city, and was 
called the Pomerium. To the original city on the Palatine 
was given the name of Roma Quadrata, or Square Rome, to 
distinguish it from the one which subsequently extended over 
the seven hills. 

The traditional date for the founding of Rome was the 21st 
of April, 753 vears before the Christian era- 

On the line of the Pomerium Romulus began to raise a wall. 
One day Remus leapt over it in scorn ; whereupon Romulus slew 
him, exclaiming, " So die whosoever hereafter 
shall leap over my walls." Romulus now found his gatines. 
people too few in numbers. Accordingly, he set 
apart on the Capitoline hill an asylum, or a sanctuary, in which 
homicides and runaway slaves might take refuge. The city thus 
became filled with men, but they wanted women, and the inhabit- 
ants of the neighbouring cities refused to give their daughters 
to such an outcast race. Romulus accordingly resolved to 
obtain by force what he could not gain by entreaty. He pro- 
claimed that games were to be celebrated in honour of the god 
Consus, and invited his neighbours, the Latins and Sabines, 
to the festival. Suspecting no treachery, they came in numbers 
with their wives and children ; when suddenly the Roman 
youths rushed upon their guests and carried off the virgins. The 
bereaved parents hastened home and prepared for vengeance. 

The inhabitants of three of the Latin towns, Caenina, Antemnae, 
and Crustumerium, took up arms one after the other, but were 



12 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. II. 

defeated by the Romans. Eomulus slew with his own hand 

Acron king of Caenina, and dedicated his arnas 

Wars with ^nd armour, as spoUa opima, to Jupiter. These 

rt S^V^^es "were offered when the commander of one army 
slew with his own hand the commander of 
another, and were only gained twice afterwards in Roman 
history. 

At last Titus Tatius, the king of Cures, the most powerful of the 
Sabine states, marched against Rome. His forces were so great 
that Romulus, unable to resist him in the field, was obliged to 
retire into the city. Besides the city on the Palatine, Romulus 
had also fortified the top of the Capitoline hill, which he in- 
trusted to the care of Tarpeius. But his daughter Tarpeia, 
dazzled by the golden bracelets of the Sabines, promised to 
betray the hill to them " if they would give her what they 
wore on their left arras." Her offer was accepted. In the 
night-time she opened a gate and let in the enemy, but when 
she claimed her reward they threw upon her the shields 
"which they wore on their left arms," and thus crushed her 
to death. Thus was explained the later custom of hurling 
traitors from the Tarpeian rock. 

On the next day the Romans endeavoured to recover the 

hill. A long and desperate battle was fought in the valley 

between the Palatine and the Capitoline. At one time the 

Romans were driven before the enemy, when Romulus vowed 

a temple to Jupiter Stator, the Stayer of Flight, whereupon 

his men took courage and returned again to the combat. 

At length the Sabine women, who were the cause of the 

war, rushed in between them, and prayed their husbands and 

fathers to be reconciled. Their prayers were heard : the two 

people not only made peace, but agreed to form only one nation. 

_ . . The Romans dwelt on the Palatine under their 

the Sabines '^'"^ Romulus, the Sabines on the Capitoline 

under their king Titus Tatius.* The two kings 

and their senates met for deliberation in the valley between the 

two hills, which was hence called Comitium, or the place of 

meeting, and which afterwards became the Roman Forum. 

But the double monarchy did not last long. Titus Tatius 

* The Sabines were called Quirites, and this name was afterwards applied 
to the Roman people in their civil capacity. 



Chap. II.] ROMULUS AND NUMA. 13 

was slain at Laviniiim by some Latins to whom he had refused 
satisfaction for outrages committed by his kinsmen. Hence- 
forward Romulus ruled alone over both Romans and Sabines. 
He reigned in all thirty-six years. 

One day, as he was reviewing his people in the Campus 
Martins, near the Goat's Pool, the sun was suddenly eclipsed, 
and a dreadful storm dispersed the people. When 

daylight returned Romulus had disappeared, for 5t?^ ^ ]°^ 
1 • r^i TV r 11 ■ 1 , • , ' . ot Komulos. 

ms lather Mars had carried him up to heaven m 

a fiery chariot. Shortly afterwards he appeared in more than 

mortal beauty to the senator Proculus Sabinus, and bade him tell 

the Romans to worship him under the name of the god Quirinus. 

2. Reign of Numa Pompilius, 715-673 b.c— The choice of 

the people next fell upon the wise and pious Numa Pompilius, a 




Salii carrying the ancilla. 

native of the Sabine Cures who had married the daughter of 
Tatius. The forty-three years of Numa's reign glided away in 
quiet happiness without any war or any calamity. 

Numa was regarded as the author of the chief religious in- 
stitutions of the state. Instructed by the nymph 
Egeria, whom he met in the sacred grove of Aricia, . ^. ^^^^''^^ ^^' 
he instituted three priests called Flamens, each of Numa. 
whom attended to the worship of separate deities 
— Jupiter,* Mars, and Quirinus ; four Vestal Virgins, who kept 
alive the sacred fire of Vesta brought from Alba Longa ; and 

• The Flamen of Jupiter was called Flamen Dialis. 



14 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. II. 

twelve Salii, or priests of Mars, who had the care of the sacred 
shields.* Numa reformed the calendar, encouraged agriculture, 
and marked out the boundaries of property, which he placed 
under the care of the god Terminus. He also built the temple 
of Janus, a god represented with two heads looking different 
ways. The gates of this temple were to be open during war 
and closed in time of peace. 

3. Reign of Tullus Hostilius, 673-642 b.c. — Upon the 
death of Numa, Tullus Hostihus, a Roman, was elected king. His 

reign was as warlike as that of Numa had been 
An!^ T peaceful. The most memorable event in it is the 

destruction of Alba Longa. A quarrel having arisen 
between the two cities, and their armies having been drawn up 
in array against each other, the princes determined to avert the 
battle by a combat of champions chosen from each army. 
There were in the Roman army three brothers, i)orn at the same 
birth, named Horatii ; and in the Alban army, in like manner, 
three brothers, born at the same birth, and called Curiatii. The 
two aets of brothers were chosen as champions, and it was 
agreed that the people to whom the conquerors belonged should 
rule the other. Two of the Horatii were slain, but the three 
Curiatii were wounded, and the surviving Horatius, who was 
unhurt, had recourse to stratagem. He was unable to contend 
with the Curiatii united, but was more than a match for each of 
them separately. Taking to flight, he was followed by his three 
opponents at unequal distances. Suddenly turning round, he 
slew, first one, then the second, and finally the third. The 
Romans were declared the conquerors, and the Albans their 
subjects. But a tragical event followed. As Horatius was 
entering Rome, bearing his threefold spoils, his sister met him 
and recognized on his shoulders the cloak of one of the Curiatii, 
her betrothed lover. She burst into such passionate grief that 
the anger of her brother was kindled, and stabbing her with 
his sword he exclaimed, " So perish every Roman woman who 
bewails a foe." For this murder he was condemned by the 
two judges of blood to be hanged upon the fatal tree, but he 
appealed to the people, and they gave him his hfe. 

* TheBe shields were caUed Ancilia. One of these shields is said to have 
fallen from beaven ; and Numa ordered eleven others to be made exactly like it, 
that it might not be known and stolen. 



Chap. 11.] TULLUS HoSTlLI US— ANGUS MARClUS. 15 

Shortly afterwards Tullus Hostilius made war against Fidenae 
and the Etruscans of Veii. The Albans, under their dictator 
Mettius Fuffetius, followed him to tlie war as the 
subjects of Rome. In the battle against the o/lib^*' °^ 
Etruscans the Alban dictator, faithless and in- 
solent, withdrew to the hills; but when tlie Etruscans were 
defeated he descended to the plain, and congratulated the 
Roman king. Tullus pretended to be deceived. On the follow- 
ing day he summoned the two armies to receive their praises 
and rewards. The Albans came without arms, and were 
surrounded by the Roman troops. They then heard their 
sentence. Their dictator was to be torn in pieces by horses 
driven opposite ways ; their city was to be razed to the ground ; 
and they themselves, with their wives and children, transported 
to Rome, Tullus assigned to them the Caelian hill for their 
habitation. Some of the noble families of Alba were enrolled 
among the Roman patricians, but the gi'eat mass of the Alban 
people were not admitted to the privileges of the ruling 
class. 

After carrying on several other wars Tullus fell sick, and 
sought to win the favour of the gods, as Numa had done, by 
prayers and divination. But Jupiter was angry with him, and 
smote him and his whole house with fire from heaven. Thus 
perished Tullus after a reign of thirty-one years. 

4. Reign of Angus Maecius, 642-617 b.c. — Ancus Marcius, 
the successor of Tullus Hostilius, was a Sabine, being the son 
of Numa's daughter. He sought to tread in the 
footsteps of his grandfather by reviving the re- t*'?-'^'**^*-° 
ligious ceremonies which had fallen into neglect ; 
but a war with the Latins called him from the pursuits of 
peace. He conquered several of the Latin cities, and removed 
many of the inhabitants to Rome, where he assigned them the 
Aventine for their habitation. Ancus instituted the Fetiales, 
whose duty it was to demand satisfaction from a foreign state 
when any dispute arose, to determine the circumstances under 
which hostilities might be commenced, and to perform the 
proper religious rites on the declaration of war. He also 
founded a colony at Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber, built a 
fortress on the Janiculum as a protection against the Etruscans, 
and united it with the city by a bridge across the Tiber, called 



l« HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. It. 

the Pons Sublicius because it was made of wooden piles, and 
he erected a prison to restrain offenders. He died after a reign 
of twenty-five years. 

The Oeigwal Constitution of Rome. 

From the earliest times the population of Eome was divided 

into two distinct classes, the patricians and plebeians. The 

patricians were the members of a certain limited 

pai 1- number of noble clans (qentes). Those clans may 

have represented the chief families in the tribes 

•which amalgamated to form Rome, or may have been composed 

of all the original settlers in the territory, but there is no clear 

evidence to show how they attained their pre-eminence. The 

patricians, who may originally have formed quite the larger 

portion of the population, alone possessed full political and 

religious privileges. They had the exclusive right of voting in 

the assembly of the people, of serving in the army, and of filling 

the priesthoods of the state. 

All outside this select circle were known as the plehs, or 
plebeians. They did not, however, form a simple, uniform 
_. ... class ; for their condition depended on their origin. 
Some of the plebeians were sprung from emanci- 
pated slaves, and, where this servile taint could be proved to 
exist, they were clients {clientele) * of the patrician who had 
emancipated them, remained dependent members of his clan, 
and owed personal duties to him as their patron (patronus) and 
to his descendants after him. A large number had also sprung 
from the inhabitants of conquered cities who had been deported 
to Rome. These, too, seem to have been attached as clients to 
patrician gentes. But one class, at least, of the plebeians, which 
was composed of individuals who had voluntarily migrated to 
Rome from allied cities, seems to have been personally free. 
These plebeians formed clans of their own, did not attach them- 
selves to the gens of a patrician, were under no obligation to a 
patron, and bequeathed this freedom from clientship to their 
descendants. Yet they, too, were, like the other members of 
this order, devoid of political privileges. 

The earliest constitution of Rome was a limited monarchy. 

* The word cUentes is connected with clvere ("to bear"). They were de- 
pendants who listened to their masters' bidding. 



Chap. II.] THE KING, 17 

The king was in theory only a magistrate, to whom the people 
had given the management of the chief business of the state ; 
but he was a sole magistrate holding office for . 

life, and his powers were so enormous that they °' 

required very little straining to make his rule degenerate into a 
tyranny. The authority of the king was expressed in the word 
Imperium, and included supreme command in war, with the 
power of life and death over the citizens, supreme civil and 
criminal jurisdiction, and the sole right of summoning the people 
and laying measures before them for their approval. 

Although the actual mode of appointment of the king is 
somewhat uncertain, it seems best to consider that it was both 
the right and the duty of the reigning monarch to nominate his 
successor. But this nomination was not final. The new king 
had no right to reign until he had challenged the allegiance of 
the people and his appointment had been ratified by them. 
This ratification was expressed in a law of the comitia of the 
curiae {lex curiata).* In the case of a king's dying without 
nominating a successor, this duty fell to the senate. That body 
appointed a series of interim-kings (inter-reges) (never less than 
two), who held office for five days in turn, and the last of whom 
nominated a candidate for the throne. This nomination had 
then to be ratified by the curiae. Although tradition represents 
the Sabine Numa, the foreigner Tarquin, and the slave's son 
Servius as having been elected kings of Rome, it is almost certain 
that the king had to be both a Roman citizen and a patrician — 
qualifications that we know were required for the inter-rex. 

As the king was sole magistrate, all the other officials of the 
state were merely delegates appointed by him. Chief of these 
was the prefect of the city, an official left behind for the control 
of the capital when the king was absent in the field. 

The whole of the patrician population of Rome is said to 
have been divided by Romulus into three tribes (trihus), each 
of which was held to represent one of the three . . 

nationalities present in the Roman state. The *„; w* rician 
Ramnes were the original Romans of Romulus, 
the Titles (or Titienses) the Sabines of Titus Tatius, while the 
Luceres were regarded as Etruscan. Closely connected with 
this division was the corps of 300 knights {equites), each tribe 

* See next page. 



18 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. II. 

supplying a " century " of 100 men. The number is said to have 
been doubled by Tiillus HostiHus, and 600 probably remained 
the maximum for this corps until the time of Servius Tulhus. 

Each of the tribes was further subdivided into ten parishes 
called "curiae." Each of these thirty curies had its peculiar 
_ . worship and chapel ; but their importance was 

chiefly political. In the popular assembly the 
votes of each curia were first taken, and all questions were 
decided by a majority of these groups. Hence this assembly, 
. . composed at this time exclusively of patricians, 
coriata ^^^ known as the " comitia curiata." This was 

nominally the sovereign body of Rome, which the 
king was morally bound to consult on all questions of legislation 
and all changes in the constitution. It also listened to appeals 
from the king's criminal jurisdiction, but only on his permission, 
for there was as yet no law giving every one the right of 
appealing against his judgments.* The comitia had no power 
of debate, and could only answer " Yes " or " No " to the 
question put before it by the king. 

The assembly, fettered as it was by its dependence on the 
king, could be no real check on his authority. The greatest 
_, limitation on his power was supplied by the ever- 

present council of elders, the senate, composed, 
we are told, originally of 100, afterwards of 200 members. This 
council was chosen by the king from the heads of the patrician 
families (hence its members were called patres), and, though 
in theory only an advising body, the age and experience of its 
members led it to gain certain definite prerogatives. One of the 
fundamental principles of the Roman commonwealth, that a 
magistrate should never undertake an important matter without 
consulting a body of advisers, was the reason both of the 
existence and of the power of the senate. 

Most of the foregoing institutions were naturally attributed 
to the founder Romulus. Another series of creations, all of a 
religious character, were attached to the name of the priest-king 
Numa. Besides the priesthoods and the worships 



The priestly 
colleges. 



which we have already mentioned, he was held to 
have instituted the two gi'eat religious colleges of 
Pontiffs and Augurs. The four Pontiffs were the interpreters of 
* Compare ch. iii. p. 32. 



Chap. II.] 



THE PRIESTLY COLLEGES. 



19 



the sacred law {jus divinum), which, besides directing the ritual 
of the priesthoods, inchided in these early times most of the 
criminal and civil law. The four Augurs were the interpreters 
of omens and portents. The Romans believed that relicrious 
guidance could be obtained for almost every act of their daily 
life. When starting on an enterprise they looked for the will 
of the gods in the changing expressions of the sky, in the flight 
of birds or the manner in which they fed, and in the marks on 
the vitals of slain animals. The meaning of these signs was 
interpreted by the Augurs, and thus they largely guided the 
actions of the state. The king himself was Chief Pontiff 
{Pontifex Maximns), and thus the head of the religious as 
he was of the civil life of the community. 



^^==^^iP^ 





Augur's victims. 




Bemains of the Servian walli 



CHAPTER III. 



THK LAST THREE KINGS OF ROME, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OP 
THE REPUBLIC DOWN TO THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE KE61LLUS. 
616-498 B.C. 



The Etruscan 
dynasty. 



5. Reign of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, or the Elder Tar- 
QoiN, 616-579 B.C. — The fifth king of Rome was an Etruscan 
by birth, but .a Greek by descent. His father 
Demaratus was a wealthy citizen of Corinth, 
who settled in the Etruscan city of Tarquinii, 
where he married an Etruscan wife. Their son wedded 
Tanaquil, who belonged to one of the noblest families in Tar- 
quinii, and himself became a Lucumo* or a noble in the state. 
But he aspired to still higher honours; and, urged on by his 
wife, who was an ambitious woman, he resolved to try his 

* This was an Etruscan word originally meaning an " insane " or " frenzied " 
person. It was thus applied to any one supposed to be inspired. 



Chap. III.] TARQUINIUS PRISCUS. 21 

fortune at Eome. Accordingly he set out for this city, accom- 
panied by a large train of followers. When he had reached 
the Janicuhim an eagle seized his cap, and, after carrying it 
away to a great height, placed it again upon his head. Tanaquil, 
who was skilled in the Etruscan science of augury, bade her 
husband hope for the highest honours. Her predictions were 
soon verified. He took the name of Lucius Tarquinius, and 
gained the favour both of Ancus Marcius and the people. 
Ancus appointed the stranger guardian of his children ; and, 
when he died, the senate and the people unanimously elected 
Tarquin to the vacant throne. 

The reign of Tarquin was distinguished by great exploits in 
war and by great works in peace. He defeated the Sabines, and 
took their town Collatia, which he placed under 
his nephew Egerius, who was thence called Colla- .^^^^ Tarauin 
tinns. He also captured many of the Latin towns, 
and became the ruler of all Latium ; but the important works 
which he executed in peace have rendered his name still more 
famous. The great cloacae, or sewers, by which he drained 
the lower parts of the city, still remain, after so many ages, 
with not a stone displaced. He laid out the Circus Maximus, 
and instituted the Great or Roman games performed in the 
circus. He also made some changes in the constitution of 
the state. He added to the senate 100 new members, taken 
from the Luceres, the third tribe, and called patres minornm 
gentium to distinguish them from the old senators, who were 
now termed patres majorwa gentium ; the numbers of this 
council were thus raised to 300. The number of vestal virgins 
was also increased from four to six, the two new vestals being 
probably taken from the Luceres. 

Tarquin had a favourite, Servius Tullius, said to have been 
the son of a female slave taken at the capture of the Latin 
town Corniculum. His infancy was marked by prodigies which 
foreshadowed his future greatness. On one occasion a flame 
played around his head, as he was asleep, without hurting him. 
Tanaquil foresaw the greatness of the boy, and from this time 
he was brought up as the king's child. Tarquin afterwards 
gave him his daughter in marriage, and left the government in 
his hands. But the sons of Ancus Marcius, fearing lest Tarquin - 
should transmit the crown to his son-in-law, hired two country* 



22 



HISTORY OP ROME. 



[Chap. III. 



men to assassinate the king. These men, feigning to have a 
quarrel, came before the king to have their dispute decided; 
and while he was listening to the complaint of one, the 
other gave him a deadly wound with his axe. But the sons of 
Ancus did not reap the fruit of their crime ; for Tanaquil, pre- 
tending that the king's wound was not mortal, told them that 
he would soon return, and that he had, meantime, appointed 




The Cloaca Maxima. 



Servius to act in his stead. Servius forthwith proceeded to 
discharge the duties of king, greatly to the satisfaction of the 
people ; and when the death of Tarquin could no longer be 
concealed, he was already in firm possession of the regal power. 
Tarquin had reigned thirty-seven years. 

6. Servius Tullius, 578-535 b.c. — Servius thus succeeded 
to the throne by the strictly recognized method of nomination. 



Chap. III.] THE SERVIAN CONSTITUTION. 23 

The reign of this king is almost as barren of military ex- 
ploits as that of Numa. His great deeds were those of peace; 
and he was regarded by posterity as the author 
of the later Roman constitution, jnst as Romulus 1,^^,7?™^ 
was of the earlier. Three important acts are 
assigned to Servius by universal tradition. Of these the greatest 
was — 

(1) The reform of the Roman constitution. In this reform his 
main object was to distribute the burdens of taxation and military 
service as evenly as possible amongst all the 
members of the state. The effect of his scheme ^Qs^ution^* 
was to give to the wealthy classes as a whole the 
influence which had formerly depended on patrician birth, and 
thus to grant privileges to the well-to-do plebeians. To carry 
his purpose into effect he made a twofold division of the Roman 
people, one according to their residence, the other according to 
their property. 

(a) It must be recollected that the only existing political 
organization was the division into three tribes, and of these 
tribes into thirty curiie, composed exclusively of patrician 
gentes ; but Servius now divided the whole Roman territory 
into Four Tribes, and, as this division was simply local, these 
tribes contained plebeians as well as patricians. But though 
the institution of these local tribes made the plebeians members 
of the state, it conferred upon them no right to take part in 
the elections, or in the management of public affairs, for the 
powers of electing the king and of ratifying the laws were 
possessed exclusively by the purely patrician " comitia curiata." 

(b) The means by which Servius indirectly gave the plebeians 
a share in the government was by dividing the whole body of 
citizens into classes according to their wealth for 

the purposes of taxation and the military levy. Servian 

But this new arrangement was soon made the 
basis of a new Popular Assembly, in which patricians and ple- 
beians alike voted. The result of the arrangement was that the 
wealthiest persons, whether patricians or plebeians, possessed the 
chief power. In order to ascertain the property of each citizen, 
Servius instituted the Census, which was a register of Roman 
citizens and their property. All Roman citizens possessing a 
certain amount of landed property afterwards valued at 12,500 



24 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. III. 

asses and upwards * were divided into five great Classes. The 
First Class contained tlie richest citizens, the Second Class the 
next in point of wealth, and so on. The whole arrangement was 
of a military character. Each of the five Classes was divided 
into a certain number of Centuries or Companies, half of which 
consisted of Elders (Seniores) from the age of 46 to 60, and half 
of younger members {Juniores) from the age of 18 to 46. All 
the Classes had to provide their own arms and armour, but the 
expense of the equipment was in proportion to the wealth of 
each Class. The Five Classes formed the infantry {fedites). 
To these five classes were added two centuries of smiths and 
carpenters, and two of trumpeters and horn-blowers. These four 
centuries voted with the Classes. Those persons whose property 
did not amount to 12,500 asses were not included in the Classes, 
and formed a single century. 

At the head of the Classes were the Equites or cavalry. These 
consisted of eighteen centuries, six being the old patrician 
Equites, as founded by Romulus and augmented by Tarquinius 
Prisons, and the other twelve being chosen from the chief 
plebeian families.f 

* The as was originally a pound weight of copper of twelve ounces. Although 
the census is always given in terms nf cupper money, there is little doubt that 
originally it was an assessmeut on hides of land (^jugera), and perhaps on sheep 
and cattle. 

t The following table will show the census of each class, and the number of 
centuries which each contained : — 

Equites. — Centuriae 18 

First Class. -^Ceusvis, 100,000 asses and upwards. 

Centuriae Seiiiorum 40^ 

Centuriae Juniorum 4ol82 

Centuriae Fabrum (smiths and carpenters) ... 2/ 
Second Class. — Census, 75,000 asses aLd upwards. 

Centuriae Seniorum '*'l.>n 

Centuriae Juniorum 10/ 

Third Cktsi. — Census, 50,000 asses and upwards. 

Centuriae Seniorum '"IsD 

Centuriae Juniorum 10 i 



20 



Fourth Class. — Census, 25,000 asses and upwards. 

Centuriae Seniorum 101 

Centuriae Juniorum 

Fifth Class.— Census, 12,500 asses and upwards. 

Centuriae Seniorum 15 \ 

Centuriae Juniorum 15 >32 

Centuriae cornicinum, tubicinum 2 I 

Centuria capite censorum 1 

^um total of the centiiriae ... ... ... ,. ... 193 



Chap. III.] THE COMITIA CENTURIATA. 25 

The Centuries formed the new National Assembly, They 
mustered as an army in the Campus Martins, or the Field of 
Mars, on the banks of the Tiber outside the city. 
They voted by Centuries, and were hence called „eIf^.^ri°t 
the Comitia Centuriata. Each Century counted 
as one vote, but did not consist of the same number of men. 
On the contrary, in order to give the preponderance to wealth, 
the first or richest class contained a far greater number of 
centuries than any of the other classes (as will be seen from 
the table on p. 24), althougli they must at the same time have 
included a much smaller number of men. The Equites and 
First Class alone amounted to 100 centuries, or more than half 
of the total number; so that, if they agreed to vote the same 
way, they possessed at once an absolute majority. An advantage 
was also given to age ; for the Seniores, though possessing an 
equal number of votes, must of course have been very inferior 
in number to the Juniores. 

This system, therefore, only admitted to power the classes 
who possessed a certain amount of wealth, but it was far more 
a government by the people than the rule of the patrician nobles 
which it replaced. The Comitia Centuriata became the sovereign 
assembly of the nation ; it finally usurped from the Comitia 
Curiata the right of ratifying the election of kings and magistrates, 
of enacting and repealing laws, and of deciding in cases of appeal 
from the sentence of a judge. Eventually the Coinitia Curiata 
came itself to include plebeians. This old assembly was not 
abolished, and a trace of its ancient ascendency remained in the 
formality of the lex curiata* which even in the Republic was 
required to ratify the election of a magistrate with imperium. 

(2) The second great work of Servius was the extension of 
the Pomerium, or hallowed boundary of the city, and the 
completion of the city by incorporating with it . 

the Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquiline hills.f He t^e^crty"^ 
surrounded the whole with a stone wall, called 
after him the wall of Servius Tullius ; and from the Porta 
Collina to the Esquiline Gate, where the hills sloped gently to 

• .See p. 17. 

+ The celebrated seven hills upon which Rome stood were the Palatine, A ventine, 
Capitoline, Caelian, Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquiline. The Mons Pincius was 
not included within the Servian Wall, 



26 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. III. 

the plain, he constructed a gigantic mound nearly a mile in 
length and a moat 100 feet in breadth and thirty in depth, from 
which the earth of the mound was dug. Rome thus acquired 
a circumference of five miles, and this continued to be the legal 
extent of the city till the time of the emperors, although suburbs 
were added to it. 

(3) An important alliance with the Latins, by which Rome 
and the cities of Latium became the members of 
the L^^lfii^ one great league, was one of the great events 
which distinguished the reign of Servius. 

Servius gave his two daughters in marriage to the two sons ' 
of Tarquinius Priscus. Lucius, the elder, was married to a 
quiet and gentle wife ; Aruns, the younger, to an aspiring and 
ambitious woman. The character of the two brothers was the 
very opposite of the wives who had fallen to their lot ; for 
Lucius was restless and haughty, but Aruns retiring and un- 
ambitious. The wife of Aruns, enraged at the long life of her 
father, and fearing that at his death her husband would tamely 
resign the sovereignty to his elder brother, resolved to murder 
both her father and husband." Her fiendish spirit put into the 
heart of Lucius thoughts of crime which he had never enter- 
tained before. Lucius made away with his wife, and the 
younger Tullia with her husband ; and the survivors, without 
even the show of mourning, were straightway joined in un- 
hallowed wedlock. Tullia now incessantly urged her husband 
to murder her father, and thus obtain the kingdom which he 
so ardently coveted. Tarquin formed a conspiracy with the 
patricians, who were enraged at the reforms of Servius ; and 
when the plot was ripe he entered the forum arrayed in the 
kingly robes, seated himself in the royal chair in the senate- 
house, and ordered the senators to be summoned to him as 
their king. 

At the first news of the commotion Servius hastened to the 
senate-house, and, standing at the doorway, bade Tarquin to 
come down from the throne ; but Tarquin sprang 
g ^* . forward, seized the old man, and flung him down 

the stone steps. Covered with blood, the king 
staggered home ; but, before he reached it, he was overtaken 
by the servants of Tarquin, and murdered. Tullia drove to 
the senate-house and greeted her husband as king; but her 



Chap. III.] DEATH OF SERVIUS TULLIUS. 27 

transports of joy struck even him with horror. He bade 
her go home ; and, as she was returning, her charioteer 
pulled up and pointed out the corpse of her father lying in 
his blood across the road. She commanded him to drive 
on : the blood of her father spurted over the carriage and 
on her dress ; and from that day forward the place bore the 
name of the Wicked Street. The body lay unburied; for 
Tarquin said scofSngly, " Romulus too went without burial ; " 
and this impious mockery is said to have given rise to his 
surname of Superbus, or the Proud. Servius had reigned forty- 
three years. 

7. Reign of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, or The Proud, 
535-510 B.C. — Tarquin commenced his reign without any of 
the forms of election. One of his first acts was 
to abolish all the privileges which had been con- ^'^l^^^^'^s 
ferred upon the plebeians by Servius. He also 
compelled the poor to work at miserable wages upon his 
magnificent buildings, and the hardships which they suffered 
were so great that many put an end to their lives. But he did 
not confine his oppressions to the poor. All the senators and 
patricians whom he mistrusted, or whose wealth he coveted, 
were put to death or driven into exile. He surrounded himself 
with a body-guard, by whose means he was enabled to carry 
out his designs. 

But, although a tyrant at home, he raised the state to great 
influence and power among the surrounding nations, partly by 
his alliances and partly by his conquests. He 
gave his daughter in marriage to Octavius Supremacy or 
Mamilius of Tusculum, the most powerful of the Latium. 
Latins, by whose means he acquired great influ- 
ence in Latium. Any Latin chiefs like Turnus Herdonius, 
who attempted to resist him, were treated as traitors, and 
punished with death. At the solemn meeting of the Latins 
at the Alban Mount, Tarquin sacrificed the bull on behalf 
of all the allies, and distributed the flesh to the people of the 
league. 

Strengthened by this Latin alliance, Tarquin turned his arms 
against the Volscians. He took the wealthy town of Suessa 
Pometia, wiih the spoils of which he commenced the erection of 
a magnificent temple on the Capitoline hill, which his father 



28 HISTORY" OF ROME. [Chap. III. 

had vowed. This temple was dedicated to the three gods of 
the Latin and Etruscan rehgions, Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. 
A human head {caput), fresh bleeding and undecayed, is said 
to have been found by the workmen as they were digging 
the foundations, and being accepted as a sign that the place 
was destined to become the head of the world, the name of 
Capitoltum was given to the temple, and thence to the 
hill. In a stone vault beneath were deposited the Sibylline 
books, containing obscure and prophetic sayings. One day 
a sibyl, a prophetess from Cumse, appeared before the king 
and offered to sell him nine books. Upon his refusing to 
buy them she went away and burned three, and then de- 
manded the same sum for the remaining six as she had 
asked for the nine. But the king laughed, whereupon she 
again burnt three, and then demanded the same sum as before 
for the remaining three. Wondering at this strange conduct, 
the king piirchased the books. They were placed under the 
care of two patricians, and were consulted when the state was 
in danger. 

Tarquin next attacked Gabii, one of the Latin cities which 
refused to enter into the league. Unable to take the city by 
force, he had recourse to stratagem. His son, Sextus, pretending 
to be illtreated by his father, and covered with the bloody marks 
of stripes, fled to Gabii. The infatuated inhabitants intrusted 
him with the command of their troops; and when he had 
obtained the unlimited confidence of the citizens, he sent a 
messenger to his father to inquire how he should deliver the 
city into his hands. The king, who was walking in his garden 
when the messenger arrived, made no reply, but kept striking 
off the heads of the tallest poppies with his stick. Sextus took 
the hint. He put to death or banished, on false charges, all 
the leading men of the place, and then had no difficulty in com- 
pelling it to submit to his father. 

In the midst of his prosperity Tarquin was troubled by a 
strange portent. A serpent crawled out from the altar in the 
Brutus rojdl palace, and seized on the entrails of the 

victim. The king, in fear, sent his two sons, 
Titus and Aruns, to consult the famous oracle of the Greeks at 
Delphi. They were accompanied by their cousin, L. Junius 
Brutus. One of the sisters of Tarquin had been married to 



Chap. III.] 



TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS. 



29 



M. Brutus, a man of great wealth, who died, leaving two sons 
under age.* Of these the elder was killed by Tarquin, who 
coveted their possessions ; the younger escaped his brother's 
fate only by feigning idiotcy. On arriving at Delphi, Brutus 
propitiated the priestess with the gift of a golden stick enclosed 
in a hollow staff. After executing the king's commission, Titus 
and Aruns asked the priestess who was to reign at Rome after 
their father. The priestess replied, whichsoever should first kiss 
his mother. The princes agreed to keep the matter secret from 
Sextus, who was at Rome, and to cast lots between themselves. 
Brutus, who better understood the meanmg of the oracle, fell, 
as if by chance, when they quitted the temple, and kissed the 
earth, the mother of them all. 

Soon afterwards Tarquin laid siege to Ardea, a city of the 
Rutulians. The place could not be taken by force, and the 
Roman army lay encamped beneath the walls. 
Here, as the king's sons, and their cousin Tar- g ™® °£ 
quinius Collatinus, were feasting together, a dis- quinius. 
pute arose about the virtue of their wives. As 
nothing was doing in the field, they mounted their horses to 
visit their homes by surprise. They first went to Rome, where 
they surprised the princes' wives at a splendid banquet. 
They then hastened to Collatia, and there, though it was late 
in the night, they found Lucretia, the wife of Collatinus, 
spinning amid her handmaids. The beauty and virtue of 
Lucretia excited the evil passions of Sextus. A few days after 
he returned to Collatia, where he was hospitably received by 
Lucretia as her husband's kinsman. In the dead of night he 

* The following genealogical table exhibits the relationship of the family :— 
Demaratus of Corinth. 



Taequinius PRiscns. 

I 



Tarquinia, 

married 

Servius Tullius. 



M. Brutus, 

put to 

death by 

Tarquinius. 



I 
Tarquinia, 

married 

M. Brutus. 

I 



L. Brutus, 

the 

Consul. 



L. Tarquinius 

SUPEBBUS. 



Aruns. 



Egerius, 
commander of 
Collatia. 



Titus. Sextus. Aruns. 



Tarquinius 

Collatinus, 

married 

Lucretia; 



30 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. III. 

entered her chamber with a drawn sword, threatening that, if 
she did not yield to his desires he would kill her and lay by her 
side a slave with his throat cut, and would declare that he had 
killed them both taken in adultery. Fear of such a shame 
forced Lucretia to consent ; but, as soon as Sextus had departed, 
she sent for her husband and father. Collatinus came, accom- 
panied by L. Brutus ; her father, Lucretius, brought with him 
P. Valerius. They found her in an agony of sorrow. She told 
them what had happened, enjoined them to avenge her dis- 
honour, and then stabbed herself to the heart. They all swore 
to avenge her. Brutus threw off his assumed stupidity, and 
placed himself at their head. They carried the corpse into the 
market-place of Collatia. There the people took up arms, and 
renounced the Tarquins. A number of young men attended 
the funeral procession to Rome. Brutus summoned the people, 
and related the deed of shame. All classes were inflamed with 
the same indignation. 

A decree was passed deposing the king, and banishing him 

and his family from the city. Brutus now set out for the army 

at Ardea. Tarquinius meantime had hastened 

jjown * to Rome, but found the gates closed against him. 

the monarcliy. ^ . ' ■ a -^-u ■ ^ a j j 

Brutus was received with joy at Ardea ; and 

the army renounced their allegiance to the tyrant. Tarquin, 
with his two sons, Titus and Aruns, took refuge at Caer^, 
in Etruria. Sextus fled to Gabii, where he was shortly after 
murdered by the friends of those whom he had put to death. 

Tarquin had reigned twenty-five years when he was driven 
out of Rome. In memory of this event an annual festival was 
celebrated on the 24th of February, called the Regifugium or 
Fugalia. 

The Republic. — Thus ended monarchy at Rome. Here, 
however, the revolution stopped. The form of the constitution 
remained unaltered; but the power of the chief 
consuls magistrate was limited in three ways. The office 

was no longer entrusted to a single individual, the 
time for which it might be held was shortened, and direct election 
by the people was substituted for the older principle of nomina- 
tion. Two men of equal authority, who held office only for a 
year, were entrusted with the regal imferium. Each was given 
the power of commanding, judging, and proposing laws, and each 



Chap. III.] THE REPUBLIC. 31 

with the power of overriding his colleague's actions. In later 
times they were called Consuls, but at their first institution they 
were named Praetors.* They were elected by the Comitia Cen- 
turiata, and possessed the honoui's and most of the emblems of 
authority {insignia) of the king. The first consuls were L. 
Brutus and Tarquinius Collatinus (509 B.C.). But the people 
so hated the very name and race of Tarquin, that Collatinus 
was obliged to resign his office and retire from Kome. P. Valerius 
was elected consul in his place. 

Meantime ambassadors came to Rome from Tarquin, asking 
that his private property should be given up to him. The 
demand seemed just to the senate and the people ; but while 
the ambassadors were making preparation for carrying away 
the property, they formed a conspiracy among the young 
Roman nobles for the restoration of the royal family. The plot 
was discovered by means of a slave, and among the con- 
spirators were found the two sons of Brutus himself. But the 
consul would not pardon his guilty children, and ordered the 
lictors t to put them to death with the other traitors. The 
agreement to surrender the property was made void by this 
attempt at treason, and the royal goods were given up to the 
people to plunder. 

As the plot had failed, Tarquin now endeavoured to recover 

the throne by arms. The people of Tarquinii and Veil espoused 

the cause of their Etruscan kinsmen, and marched 

VTar with th6 
agamst Rome. The two consuls advanced to xjtniscans 

meet them. When Aruns, the king's son, saw 

Brutus at the head of the Roman cavalry he spurred his horse 

to the charge. Brutus did not shrink from the combat ; and 

both fell from their horses mortally wounded by each other's 

spears. A desperate battle between the two armies now 

followed. Both parties claimed the victory, till a voice was 

heard in the dead of night, proclaiming that the Romans had 

conquered, as the Etruscans had lost one man more. Alarmed 

at this, the Etruscans fled ; and Valerius, the surviving consul, 

returned to Rome, carrying with him the dead body of Brutus. 

» Cf. p. 62. 

■{• The lictores were public officers who attended upon the Roman magistrate. 
Each consul had twelve lictors. They cnrried upon their shoulders fasces, 
which were rods bound in the form of a bundle, and containing an axe in the 
middle. 



32 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. III. 

The matrons mourned for Brutus a whole year, because he had 
revenged the death of Lucre tia, 

Valerius was now left without a colleague ; and as he began 
to build a house on the top of the hill Velia, which looked 
down upon the forum, the people feared that he was aiming at 
kingly power. Thereupon Valerius not only pulled down the 
house, but, calling an assembly of the people, he ordered the 
lictors to lower the fasces before them, as an acknowledgment 
that their power was superior to his. He likewise brought 
forward a law enacting that every citizen who was condemned 
by a magisti'ate to be executed, should have a right of appeal to 
the people. Valerius became in consequence so popular that he 
received the surname of Publicola, or " The People's Friend." 

Valerius then summoned an assembly for the election of a 
successor to Brutus ; and Sp. Lucretius was chosen. Lucretius, 
however, lived only a few days, and M. Horatius was elected 
consul in his place. It was Horatius who had the honour of 
consecrating the temple on the Capitol, which Tarquin had left 
unfinished when he was driven from the throne. 

The second year of the republic (508 B.C.) witnessed the 
second attempt of Tarquin to recover the crown. He now 
applied for help to Lars Porsena, the powerful 
besiece Borne '""^^'" ^^ ^^^ Etruscan town of Clusium, who 
marched against Rome at the head of a vast army. 
The Romans could not meet him in the field; and Porsena 
seized without opposition the Janiculum, a hill immediately 
opposite the city, and separated from it only by the Tiber. 

Rome was now in the greatest danger, and the Etruscans 
would have entered the city by the Sublician bridge had not 
Horatius Codes, with two comrades, kept the 
whole Etruscan army at bay while the Romans 
broke down the bridge behind him. When it was giving way 
he sent back his two companions, and withstood alone the 
attacks of the foe till tbe cracks of the falling timbers and the 
shouts of his countrymen told him that the bridge had fallen. 
Then praying, " Father Tiber, take me into thy charge and 
bear me up ! " he plunged into the stream and swam across in 
safety amid the arrows of the enemy. The state raised a 
statue in his honour, and allowed him as much land as he could 
plough round in one day. Few legends are more celebrated ia 



Chap. III.] ATTEMPTS TO RESTORE THE TARQUINS. 33 

Roman story than this gallant deed of Horatius, and Roman 
writers loved to tell 

•♦ How well Horatius kept the bridge 
In the brave days of old." 

The Etruscans now proceeded to lay siege to the city, which 
soon hegan to suifer from famine. Thereupon a young Roman, 
named C. Mncius, resolved to deliver his CQuntry hy murdering 
the invading king. He accordingly went over to the Etruscan 
camp ; but, ignorant of the person of Porsena, killed the royal 
secretary instead. Seized and threatened with torture, he thrust 
his right hand into the lire on the altar, and there let it burn, 
to show how little he heeded pain. Astonished at his courage, 
the king bade him depart in safetj'^ ; and Mucins, out of gratitude, 
advised him to make peace with Rome, since three hundred 
noble youths, he said, had sworn to take the life of the king, 
and he was the first upon whom the lot had fallen. Mucins 
was henceforward called Scaevola, or the Left-handed, because 
his right hand had been burnt off. Porsena, alarmed for his 
life, which he could not secure against so many desperate men, 
forthwith offered peace to the Romans on condition of their 
restoring to the Veientines the land which they had taken from 
them. These terms were accepted, and Porsena withdrew hia 
troops from the Janiculum, after receiving ten youths and ten 
maidens as hostages from the Romans. Cloelia, one of the 
maidens, escaped from the Etruscan camp, and swam across 
the Tiber to Rome. She was sent back by the Romans to 
Porsena, who was so amazed at her courage that he not only 
set her at liberty, but allowed her to take with her those of the 
hostages whom she pleased. 

Thus ended the second attempt to restore the Tarquins by 
force.* 

After Porsena quitted Rome, Tarquin took refuge with his 
son-in-law, Octavius Mamilius of Tusculum. The 
thirty Latin cities now espoused the cause of the ratinleaB'ne* 
exiled king, and declared war against Rome. 

The Romans in their peril had recourse to a dictatorship. 

* There is, however, reason to believe that these brilliant stories conceal one 
of the earliest and greatest disasters of the city. It is probable that Rome was 
really conquered by Porsena, and lost all the territory which the kings had 
gained on the right side of the Tiber. 

D 



34 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. III. 

This was a temporary revival of the monarchy for the purpose 
of meeting some emergency, whether within or without the 

city, which seemed beyond the powers of the 
of ft d'ctfttor ordinary magistrates with their divided authority. 

The dictator was nominated by one of the consuls, 
and held office only for six months. His absolute power was 
shown by the fact that the lictors attending him bore the axes 
in the fasces even within the city, to signify that from him, as 
from the kings, there was no appeal. From the time of his ap- 
pointment the independent powers of all other magistrates ceased, 
and the only other authority was exercised by his lieutenant, 
the Master of the Horse, who commanded the cavalry. A. 
Postumius was appointed Dictator, and he named T. Aebutius 
Master of the Horse ; at the head of the Latins were Tarquin 
and Octavius Marailius. The armies met near the lake Regillus, 
and the struggle was fierce and bloody, but the Latins at length 
fled. Almost all the chiefs on either side fell in the conflict, 
or were grievously wounded. Titus, the son of Tarquin, was 
killed ; and the aged king was wounded, but escaped with his 
life. It was related in the old tradition, that the Romans gained 
this battle by the assistance of the " Great Twin Brethren," 
Castor and Pollux, who were seen charging the Latins at the 
head of the Roman cavalry, and who afterwards carried to Rome 
the tidings of the victory. A temple was built in the forum 
on the spot where they appeared, and their festival was cele- 
brated yearly. 

This was the third and last attempt to restore the Tarquins. 
The Latins were completely humbled by this victory. Tar- 
quinius Superbus had no other state to which he could apply 
for assistance. He had already survived all his family ; and he 
now fled to Cumae, where he died a wretched and childless old 
man (496 B.C.). 




Coin representing the children of Brutus led to death by lictors. 




The Oampagiia. 



CHAPTER IV. 



FROM THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLU8 TO THE 
DECEMVIRATE. 498-451 B.a 

The infant Republic was now saved from its immediate danger, 

a forcible restoration of the monarchy ; but the state was for 

a long time in the most grievous peril : it needed consolidation 

from within, and was at the same time mercilessly attacked by 

enemies from without. 

The internal history of Rome during this period is marked 

by the strng2:le between the patricians and plebeians, who 

formed two distinct orders in the state. After the 

„ , 1 . ,, , • • i • J Grievances of 

bamshment of the kmgs, the patricians retained ^^^ plebeians. 

exclusive possession of political power. The 

plebeians, it is true, could vote in the Comitia Centnriata ; but, 

as they were mostly poor, they were outvoted by the patricians 

and their clients. The consulship and all other magistracies 



36 > HISTORr OF ROME. [Chap. IV. 

were legally confined to the patricians, so that the executive 
power was entirely in their hands, while the pontiffs, who were 
the authorized interpreters of the law, were drawn entirely from 
that order. The state was still practically governed by a 
handful of nobles, and there was no possibility of bridging 
the gulf between the classes; for intermarriage between the 
orders was forbidden, and in the sacred rites of the patrician 
clans the plebeians had no share. 

The plebeians had to complain, not only of disadvantages in 
social and public life, but also of private wrongs. The law of 
debtor and creditor was very severe at Rome. An agreement 
called nexum was often concluded, by which the debtor pledged 
his body and his future services for the repayment of the loan, 
and if the borrower did not refund the money by the time 
agreed upon, his person was seized by the creditor, and he was 
obliged to work as a slave.* Slavery was also the penalty for 
ordinary debts ; and if there were more creditors than one, the 
debtor's body might be cut in pieces and divided among them. 
The whole weight of this oppressive law fell upon the plebeians ; 
and what rendered the case still harder was that they were 
frequently compelled, through no fault of their own, to become 
borrowers. They were small landholders, living by cultivating 
the soil with their own hands ; but as they had to serve in the 
army without pay, they had no means of engaging labourers in 
their absence. Hence on their return home they were left 
without the means of subsistence or of purchasing seed for the 
next crop, and borrowing was their only resource. 

Another circumstance still further aggravated the hardships 
of the plebeians. The state possessed a large quantity of land 
called Ager Publicus, or the " PubHc Land." This land origin- 
ally belonged to the kings, partly for their own use, partly in 
trust for the people ; and it was constantly increased by con- 
quest, as it was the practice, on the subjugation of a people, to 
deprive them of a certain portion of their land. This public 
land was either divided amongst the poorer citizens or left by 
the state to any occupier subject to a rent ; but as the patricians 
possessed the political power, they occupied the pubHc land 
themselves, and paid for it only a nominal rent. Thus the 
plebeians, by whose blood and unpaid toil much of this land 

* Debtors thus given over to their creditors were called next. 



Chap. IV.] FIRST SECESSION OF THE PLEBS. 37 

had been won, were excluded from all share in the fruits of 

their conquest. 

The struggle that ensued was, therefore, partly social, partly 

political. But protection was what the plebeians desired even 

more than power; the cruelty of the patrician 

creditors was the most pressing evil, and led to ^}^^^ V'^^^' 
•r An , ,1 11- fi sion 01 tne 

the first reform. In 494 b.c. the plebeians, after plebeians. 

a campaign against the Volscians, instead of 
returning to Eome, suddenly turned aside to the Sacred Mount, 
a hill about three miles from the city, near the junction of the 
Anio and the Tiber. Here they determined to settle and found 
a new town, leaving Rome to the patricians and their clients'. 
This event is known as the Secession to the Sacred Mount. 
The patricians, alarmed, sent several of their number to per- 
suade the plebeians to return. Among the deputies was the 
aged Menenius Agrippa, who had great influence with the 
plebeians. He related to them the celebrated fable of the Belly 
and the Members — 

" Once upon a time," he said, " the Members refused to work 
any longer for the Belly, which led a lazy life and grew fat upon 
their toils. But receiving no longer any nourishment from the 
Belly, they soon began to pine away, and found that it was to 
the Belly they owed their life and strength." 

The fable was understood, and the plebeians agreed to treat 
with the patricians. It was decided that existing debts should 
be cancelled, and that all debtors in bondage 
should be restored to freedom. Slavery for debt Appointment 

^ . <• 1 • 1 1 1 -i of tribunes. 

was not, however, lorbidden, and as it was neces- 
sary to provide security for the future, the plebeians insisted that 
two of their own number should be elected annually, to whom 
the plebeians might appeal for assistance against the decisions 
of the patrician magistrates. These officers were called Tribunes 
of the Plebs. They were not magistrates, and had no iiwperium. ; 
their sole duty was that of protection ; the}' could forbid the 
fulfillment of any decree aimed against a citizen — a right which 
gradually became a power of declaring any proposal made by a 
magistrate to be null and void.* Their persons were declared 
sacred and inviolable ; they were never to quit the city during 

* This was called the right of intercessio, from intercedo, "to come 
between." 



38 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. IV. 

their year of office ; and their houses were to remain open day 
and night, that all who were in need of help might apply to them. 
Their number was soon afterwards increased to four, and at a 
later time to ten.* At the Sacred Mount the plebeians also ob- 
tained the privilege of having two aediles of their order appointed. 
These officers had at a later time the care of the public build- 
ings and roads, and the superintendence of the police of the city. 

Emboldened by this success, the plebeians now demanded a 
share in the public land. And in this they found an unexpected 
supporter among the patricians themselves. Sp. 
of^Snurlus *^ Cassius, one of the most distinguished men in the 
Cassius. state, brought forward in his third consulship a 

law by which a portion of the public land was 
to be divided among the plebeians (486 B.C.). This was the 
first Agrarian Lam mentioned in Koman history. It must be 
recollected that all Agrarian laws dealt only with the pubhc 
land, and, though often infiinging private rights, never touched 
what was actually private property. Notwithstanding the 
violent opposition of the patricians, the law was passed ; but 
it was never carried into execution, and the patricians soon 
revenged themselves upon its author. In the following year 
he was accused of aiming at the kingly power, and condemned 
to death. He was scourged and beheaded, and his house razed 
to the ground. 

We now turn to the external history of Rome. Under the 
kings Rome had risen to a superiority over her neighbours ; she 
. had extended her dominion over the southern 

tiorfsof Rome P*^* °^ Etruria, and she had acquired the head- 
ship of the Latin league : this headship taking 
the form of an alliance between Rome on the one hand and 
all the cities of the league on the other. The early history of the 
Republic presents a very different spectacle. She is now isolated, 
and for the next 100 years engaged in a constant defensive 
war with her neighbours, the Etruscans on the one hand and the 
Volscians and Aequians on the other. 

An attempt to break this isolation was made by Sp. Cassius 
in the days of his power by the alliance which he effected 

* The tribu^ies were orig'nally elected by the assembly of the Plebs which 
met by curiae (rovciHum p'ebis curiat'nn) ; but by tho Puislilian l,aw, pn posed 
by the tribune Publilius VoUm, and passed 471 B.f., the election was transfened 
to the assembly of the Plebs meeting by tribes {concilium plebis tributirn). 



Chap. IV.] WAR WITH THE VOLSCIANS. 39 

between Rome and the Latin and Hernican leagues (486 B.C.). 

It was this union which kept the Volscians and Aequians at 

bay in the defensive contest now carried on by 

Rome. It would be unprofitable to relate the l^^f^^^^^ 

details of these petty campaigns ; but there are igaeue. 

tliree celebrated legends connected with them 

which must not be passed over. 

1. CoRioLANUs AND THE VoLSCiANS, 488. B.C. — C. Marcius, 
siirnamed Coriolanus, from his valour at the capture of the Latin 
town of Corioli, wasa brave but haughty patrician • v, i, 

youth. He was hated by the plebeians, who re- VQi'sciaiis * 
fused him the consulship. This inflamed him with 
anger; and accordingly, when the city was suffering from 
famine, and a present of corn came from Sicily, Coriolanus 
advised the senate not to distribute it among the plebeians, 
unless they gave up their tribunes. Such insolence enraged 
the plebeians, who would have torn him to pieces on the 
spot, had not the tribunes summoned him before the Assembly 
of the Plebs. Coriolanus himself breathed nothing but 
defiance ; and his kinsmen and friends interceded for him in 
vain. He was condemned to exile. He now turned his steps 
to Antium, the capital of the Volscians, and offered to lead them 
against Rome. Attius Tullius, king of the Volscians, persuaded 
his countrymen to appoint Coriolanus their general. Nothing 
could check his victorious progress : town after town fell before 
him ; and he advanced within five miles of the city, ravaging 
the lands of the plebeians, but sparing those of the patricians. 
The city was filled with despair. The ten first men in the 
senate were sent in hopes of moving his compassion. But they 
were received with the utmost sternness, and told that the city 
must submit to his absolute will. Next day the pontiff's, augurs, 
flamens, and all the priests, came in their robes of office, and in 
vain prayed him to spare the city. All seemed lost, but Rome 
was saved by her women. Next morning the noblest matrons, 
headed by Veturia, the aged mother of Coriolanus, and by his 
wife Volumnia, holding her little children by the hand, came to 
his tent. Their lamentations turned him from his purpose. 
" Mother," he said, bursting into tears, " thou hast saved Rome, 
but lost thy son ! " He then led the Volscians home. Some 
say that they put him to death because he had spared Rome. 



40 HISTORY OF KOME. [Chap. IV. 

But others tell that he lived among the Volscians to a great 
age, and was often heard to say that "none but an old man can 
feel the misery of living in a foreign land." 

2. The Fabia Gens and the Veientines, 477 b.c. — The 
Fabii were one of the most powerful of the patrician houses. 

For seven successive years one of the consuls was 
Y^ji always a Fabius. This clan had furnished the 

leading opponents of the Agrarian Law; and 
Kaeso Fabius had taken an active part in obtaining the con- 
demnation of Sp. Cassins. But shortly afterwards we find this 
same Kaeso the advocate of the popular rights, and proposing 
that the Agrarian Law of Cassius should be carried into effect. 
He was supported in his new views by his powerful house ; 
though the reasons for their change of opinion we do not knov/„ 
But the Fabii made no impression upon the great body of the 
patricians, and only earned for themselves the hearty hatred 
of their order. Finding that they could no longer live in peace 
at Eome, they determined to leave the city, and found a separate 
settlement, where they might still be useful to their native land. 
One of the most formidable enemies of the Republic was the 
Etruscan city of Veil, situate about twelve miles from Rome. 
Accordingly the Fabian house, consisting of 306 males of full 
age, accompanied by their wives and children, chents and 
dependents, marched out of Rome by the right-hand arch of 
the Carmental Gate, and proceeded straight to the Cremera, a 
river which flows into the Tiber below Veil. On the Cremera 
they established a fortified camp, and sallying thence, they laid 
waste the Veientine territory. For two years they sustained 
the whole weight of the Veientine war ; and all attempts to 
dislodge them proved in vain. But at length they were enticed 
into an ambuscade, and were all slain. The settlement was 
destroyed, and no one of the house survived except a boy, who 
had been left behind at Rome, and who became the ancestor 
of the Fabii, afterwards so celebrated in Roman history. The 
Fabii were sacrificed to the hatred of the patricians ; for the 
consul T. Menenius was encamped a short way off at the time, 
and he did nothing to save them. 

3. CiNciNNATus AND THE Aequians, 458 B.C. — The Aequians 
in their numerous attacks upon the Roman territory generally 
occupied Mount Algidus, which formed a part of the group of 




PoitusAx 
TJberJi 




Harper & Brothers, New York & London 



Chap. IV.] WAR WITH THE AEQUIANS. 41 

the Alban hills in Latiura. It was accordingly upon this mount 
that the battles between the Romans and Aequians most fre- 
quently took place. In the year 458 b.c. the -th fh 
Roman consul L. Minucius was defeated on the Aequians. 
Algidus, and surrounded in his camp. Five 
horsemen, who made their escape before the Romans were 
completely encompassed, brought the tidings to Rome. The 
senate forthwith appointed L. Cincinnatus dictator. 

L. Cincinnatus was one of the heroes of old Roman story. 
When the deputies of the senate came to him to announce his 
elevation to the dictatorship, they found him driving a plough, 
and clad only in his tunic or shirt. They bade him clothe 
himself, that he might hear the commands of the senate. He 
put on his toga, which his wife Racilia brought him. The 
deputies then told him of the peril of the Roman array, and 
that he had been made dictator. The next morning, before 
daybreak, he appeared in the forum, and oidered all the men 
of military age to meet him in the evening in the Field of Mars, 
with food for five days, and each with twelve stakes. His orders 
were obeyed ; and with such speed did he march, that by mid- 
night he reached Mount Algidus. Placing his men around the 
Aequian camp, he told them to raise the war-cry, and at the 
same time to begin digging a trench and raising a mound, on 
the top of which the stakes were to be driven in. The other 
Roman army, which was shut in, hearing the war-cry, bui'st 
forth from their camp, and fought with iho Aequians all night. 
The dictator's troops thus worked without interruption, and com- 
pleted the entrenchment by the morning. The Aequians found 
themselves hemmed in between the two armies, and were forced 
to surrender. The dictator made them pass under the yoke, 
which was formed by two spears fixed upright in the ground, 
while a third was fastened across them. Cincinnatus entered 
Rome in triumph, only twenty-four hours after he had qUiited 
it, having thus saved a whole Roman army from destruction. 

It is impossible from the scattered legendary notices to gauge 
accurately the result of these struggles. We can 
only say that Rome issued from the contest ^^cline of the 
with unimpaired strength — a result partly due to -oI|Iil*'*'^ 
the renewed consolidation of the Latin league, 
partly to the weakening of her great rival Etruria. The 



42 HISTORY OF EOME. [Chap. IV. 

Etruscans had been defeated in a p'eat naval battle off Cumae 
by Hiero, king of Syracuse, in 474 B.C., and from this event 
dates the decline of their power. Henceforth Etruria v^as the 
object of attack, and not the aggressor, and Rome was left free 
to cope with the Aequians and Volscians, her warlike neighbours 
on the east and south. 




Tarpeian Kook. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE DECEM^^RATE. 451-449 B.C. 

From the Agrarian Law of Sp. Cassius to the appointment of 
the decemvirs was a period of more than thirty years. At the 
close of this period the contest between the Renewed 
patricians and the plebeians had reached an struggle be- 
acute stage. The latter had constantly demanded, tween the 
and the former as firmly refused, the execution orders, 
of the Agrarian Law of Cassius. But though the plebeians 



44 HISTORY OP ROME. [Chap. V. 

failed in obtaining this object, they nevertheless made steady 
progress in gaining for themselves a more important position 
in the city. In 471 B.C. the Publilian Law, passed by the 
Tribune Publihus Volero,* had enacted that the election of the 
tribunes and plebeian aediles should take place in an Assembly 
of the PJebs which met by tribes.f From this time the Con- 
cilium of the Plebs, presided over by the tribunes, may be 
regarded as one of the political assemblies of the state, ranking 
with those of the centuries and the curies. But the patricians 
still retained exclusive possession of the powers of carrying out 
the laws and of giving judgments, and there were no written 
rules to limit their authority and to regulate their decisions. 

Under these circumstances, the Tribune C. Terentilius Arsa 

proposed, in 462 B.C., that a Commission of Ten Men (Decemviri) 

should be appointed to draw up a code of laws, by 

Proposal to -^i;,ich a check might be put to the arbitrary power 

codify the law. „ ^, ... ^ . / , m ■ •+• 

of the patrician magistrates, ihis proposition, 

as might have been expected, met with the most vehement 
opposition from the patricians. But the plebeians were firm 
and for five successive years the same tribunes were re-elected. 
At length, after a struggle of eight years, a compromise was 
effected, and it was arranged that Three Commissioners 
(Triumviri) were to be sent into Greece to collect information 
respecting the laws of Solon at Athens, as well as of the other 
Greek states. 

After an absence of two years the three commissionera 

returned to Rome (452 B.C.), and it was now resolved that a 

Council of Ten, or Decemvirs, should be appointed 

Appointment ^^ ^^.^^ ^ ^^^g ^f Ig^^g a,nd at the same time 

to carry on the government and administer justice 
without appeal. All the other magistrates were obliged to 
abdicate, and no exception was made even in favour of the 
tribunes. The decemvirs were thus entrusted with supreme 
power in the state. They entered upon their office at the 
beginning of 451 B.C. They were all patricians. At their 
head stood Appius Claudius and T. Genucius, who had been 

* This Publilian law must be carefully distinguished from the leges Puhliliae 
of the dictator Q. Publilius Philo, passed in 339 B.C. See p. 62. 

t See note on p. 38, and cf. p. 63. This assembly was the concilium plehis 
tributim (sometimes loosely called the comitia tributa). Strictly the word con- 
cilium denotes an assembly of part of the people ; the word comitia, au assembly 
of the whole people. 



Chap. V.] TYRANJSY OF 'IHE DECEMVIRS. 45 

already appointed consuls for the year. They discharged the 
duties of their office with dihgence, and dispensed justice with 
impartiality. Each administered the government day by day 
in succession, and the fasces were carried only before the one 
who presided for the day. They drew up a Code of Ten Tables, 
in which equal justice was dealt out to both orders. The Ten 
Tables received the sanction of the Comitia of the Centuries, 
and thus became law. 

On the expiration of their year of office all parties were so 
well satisfied with the manner in which the decemvirs had 
discharged their duties, that it was resolved to 
continue the same form of government for .^^^ reap- 
another year; more especially as some of them 
said that their work was not finished. A new Council of Ten 
was accordingly elected, of whom Appius Claudius alone be- 
longed to the former body. He had so carefully concealed his 
pride and ambition during the previous year that he had been 
the most popular member of the council, and the patricians, to 
prevent his appointment for another year, had ordered him to 
preside at the Comitia for the elections, thinking that he would 
not receive votes for himself. But Appius set such scruples at 
defiance, and not only returned himself as elected, but took care 
that his nine colleagues should be subservient to his views. 

He now threw off' the mask he had hitherto worn, and acted 
as the tyrant of Eome. Each decemvir was attended by twelve 
lictors, who carried the fasces with the axes in 
them, so that 120 lictors were seen in the city ^' 

instead of twelve. The senate was rarely summoned. No 
one was now safe, and many of the leading men quitted Rome. 
Two new Tables were added to the Code, making twelve in all ; 
but these new laws contained clauses which confirmed the 
patricians in their most odious privileges. 

When the year came to a close, the decemvirs neither re- 
signed nor held Comitia for the election of. successors, but 
continued to hold their power in defiance of the senate and of 
the people. Next year (449 B.C.) the Sabines and Aequians 
invaded the Roman territory, and two armies were despatched 
against them, commanded by some of the decemvirs. Appius 
remained at Rome to administer justice. But the soldiers 
fought with no spirit under the command of men whom they 



46 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap V. 

detested, and two acts of outrageous tyranny caused them to 
turn their arms against their hated masters. 

In the army iighting against the Sabines was a centurion 
named L. Sicinius Dentatus, the bravest of the brave. He had 

fought in 120 battles ; he had slain eight of the 
Dentalus. enemy in single combat ; he had received forty 

wounds, all in front; he had accompanied the 
triumphs of nine generals; and had war-crowns and other 
rewards innumerable. As Tribune of the Plebs four years 
before, he had taken an active part in opposing the patricians, 
and was now suspected of /plotting against the decemvirs. His 
death was accordingly resolved on, and he was sent with a 
company of soldiers as if to reconnoitre the enemy's position. 
But in a lonely spot they fell upon him and slew him, though 
not until he had destroyed most of the traitors. His comrades, 
who were told that he had fallen in an ambush of the enemy, 
discovered the foul treachery that had been practised when 
they saw him surrounded by Roman soldiers who had evidently 
been slain by him. The decemvirs prevented an immediate out- 
break only by burying Dentatus with great pomp, but the troops 
were ready to rise in open mutiny upon the first provocation. 

In the other army sent against the Aequians there was a 
well-known centurion named Verginius. He had a beautiful 
. . daughter, betrothed to L. Icilius, an eminent 

° ' leader of the plebeian order. The maiden had 

attracted the notice of the Decemvir Appius Claudius. He at 
first tried bribes and allurements, but when these failed he had 
recourse to an outrageous act of tyranny. One morning, as 
Verginia, attended by her nurse, v/as on the way to her school, 
which was in one of the booths surrounding the forum, M. 
Claudius, a client of Appius, laid hold of the damsel and claimed 
her as his slave. The cry of the nurse for help brought a crowd 
around them, and all parties went before the decemvir. In his 
presence Marcus repeated the tale he had learnt, asserting that 
Verginia was the child of one of his female slaves, and had been 
imposed upon Verginius by his wife, who was childless. He 
further stated that he would prove- this to her father as soon 
as he returned to Rome, and he demanded that the girl should 
meantime be handed over to his custody. Appius, fearing a 
riot, said that he would let the cause stand over till the next 



Chap. V.] SECOND SECESSION OF THE PLEBS. 47 

day, but that then, whether her father appeared or not, he 
should know how to maintain the laws. Straightway two 
friends of the family made all haste to the camp, which they 
reached the same evening. Verginius immediately obtained 
leave of absence, and was already on his way to Rome when 
the messenger of Appius arrived, insti'ucting his colleagues to 
detain him. Early next morning Verginius and his daughter 
came into the forum with their garments rent. The father 
appealed to the people for aid, and the women in their company 
sobbed aloud. But, intent upon the gratification of his passions, 
Appius cared nought for the misery of the father and the girl, 
and hastened to give sentence, by which he consigned the 
maiden to his client. Appius, who had brought with him a 
large body of armed patricians and their clients, ordered his 
lictors to disperse the mob. The people drew back, leaving 
Verginius and his daughter alone before the judgment-seat. 
All help was gone. The unhappy father then prayed the 
decemvir to be allowed to speak one word to the nurse in his 
daughter's hearing, in order to ascertain whether she was really 
his daughter. The request was granted. Verginius drew them 
both aside, and, snatching up a butcher's knife from one of the 
stalls, plunged it in his daughter's breast, exclaiming, " There 
is no way but this to keep thee free." In vain did Appius call 
out to stop him. The crowd made way for him, and, holding 
his bloody knife on high, he rushed to the gate of the city and 
hastened to the army. His comrades espoused his cause, ex- 
pelled their commanders, and marched towards Rome. They were 
soon joined by the other army, to whom Numitorius and Icilius 
had carried the tidings. The plebeians in the city flocked to them, 
and they all resolved to retire once more to the Sacred Mount. 

This second secession extorted from the patricians the second 
great charter of the plebeian rights. The patricians compelled 
the decemvirs to resign, and sent L. Valerius and 
M. Horatius, two of the most eminent men of Second seces- 
, . 1 . • 1 I 1 1 • T sion of the 

their order, to negotiate with tlie plebeians. It plebeians. 

was finally agreed that the tribunes should be 
restored, that the authority of the Concilium Plebis should be 
recognized, and that the right of appeal to the people against 
the power of the supreme magistrates should be confirmed. 
The plebeians now returned to the city, and elected ten tribunes 



48 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. V. 

— a number which remained unchanged down to the latest 
times. Verginius, Icilius, and Numitorius were among the new 
tribunes. 

Two consuls were elected in place of the decemvirs, and the 
choice of the Comitia Centuriata naturally fell upon Valerius 

and Horatius. The new consuls now redeemed 
tian Laws°^ " *^^^^ promises to the plebeians by bringing forward 

the laws which are called after them, the Valerian 
and Horatian Laivs. These celebrated laws enacted — 

1. That every Koman citizen should have a right of appeal 
against the sentence of the supreme magistrate within the hmits 
of the city. This was, in fact, a solemn confirmation of the 
old law of Valerius Publicola, passed in the first year of the 
Republic. The reason for its re-enactment on this occasion was 
the recent existence of the decemvirate, from the members of 
which there had been no appeal. But, as great difficulty was 
found in controlling the executive officials, it was enacted again 
a third time in 300 B.C., on the proposal of M. Valerius, the 
consul. The Roman soldier in the field {militiae) had no right 
of appeal, and was still subject to martial law. 

2. That the Plehiscifa, or resolutions passed by the plebeians 
in the Concilium Plebis, should have the force of laws, and 
should be binding alike upon patricians and plebeians. 

3. That the persons of the tribunes, aediles, and other plebeian 
magistrates, should be sacred, and whoever injured them should 
be outlawed. 

Verginius now accused Appius Claudius, who was thrown into 
prison to await his trial. But the proud -patrician, seeing that 
his condemnation was certain, put an end to his own fife. 
Oppius, another of the decemvirs, and the personal friend of 
Appius, was condemned and executed. The other decemvirs 
were allowed to go into exile, but they were all declared guilty, 
and their property confiscated to the state. 

The Twelve Tables were always regarded as the foundation 
of the Roman law, and long continued to be held in the highest 

estimation. They probably did little more than 
Tables''^ ^® fix in a written form a large body of customary 

law ; but this was plebeian law, and in most of 
the relations of private life the two orders were now on an 
equality. The patricians still, however, retained their exclusive 



Chap. V.] THE TWELVE TABLES. 49 

political privileges; and the eleventh table even gave the 
sanction of law to the old custom which prohibited all inter- 
marriage {conuhium) between the two orders, since this pro- 
hibition was thought to be connected with the maintenance of 
the state religion. 





tg-_~ijj^ ■- 



^-^mm: 



View from me ueigiibourboou oi Veil. 



CHAPTER VI. 



FROM THE DECEMVIRATE TO THE CAPTUEE OF KOME BY THE 

GAULS. 448-390 B.C. 

The efforts of the leaders of the plebeians were now directed to 
removing disadvantages, based in the main on religious prejudice, 
_ „ , . under which their order laboured ; they aimed at 
securing the permission of intermarriage between 
patricians and plebeians, and at opening the consulship to their 
own order. The first object was attained four years after the 
decemvirate by the Lex Canuleia, proposed by Canulcius, one 
of the tribunes (445 B.C.). But the Plebs did not carry this law 
without a third secession, in which they occupied the Janiculum. 
At the same time, a compromise was effected with respect to 
the consulship. 

The patricians agreed that the supreme power in the state 
should be entrusted to new officers bearing the title of Military 



Chap. VL] APPOINTMENT OF MILITARY TRIBUNES. 51 

Tribunes with Consular Power, who might be chosen equally 
from patricians and plebeians. Their number varied in different 
years from three to six. In 444 b.c. three Mill- Appointment 
tary Tribunes were nominated for the lirst time, of Military 
In the following year (443) two new magistrates, Tribunes and 
called Censores, were appointed. They were always Censors, 
to be chosen from the patricians ; and the eflect of their institu- 
tion was to deprive the Military Tiibunes of some of the 
most important functions which had been formerly discharged 
by the consuls. The original duty of the censors was that 
of registering the names of Roman citizens in their various 
tribes and centuries. This was done once every five years, 
the interval being called a lustrum, from the sacrifice of purifi- 
cation which closed the ceremony ; but the censors' tenure of 
office was fixed at eighteen months, as early as ten years after 
their institution, by a law of the Dictator Mamercus Aemilius, 
though they continued to be appointed only once in five years. 
As the taxation of citizens depended on their place in the 
census, the duty of registration gave the censors important 
financial functions. 

Though the Military Tribunes could from their first institution 
be chosen from either order, yet such was the influence of the 
patricians in the Comitia of the Centuries that it was not till 
400 B.C., or nearly forty years afterwards, that any plebeians 
were actually elected. In 421 B.C. the quaestorship was also 
thrown open to them. The Quaestores were the paymasters of 
the state ; and as the custom was now growing up of filling up 
the senate from ex-magistrates, the plebeians thus became 
eligible for a seat at the great council of the Republic. 

In spite of these concessions, there was soon ground for fear 
that plebeian discontent might give rise to tyranny. In the year 
440 B.C. there was a great famine at Rome. Sp. 
Maelius, one of the richest of the plebeian knights, ^^^^^^ "*®" 
expended his fortune in buying up corn, which 
he sold to the poor at a small price, or distributed among 
them gratuitously. The patricians thought, or pretended 
to think, that he was aiming at kingly power ; and in the 
following year (439) the aged Quinctius Cincinnatus, who 
had saved the Roman army on Mount Algidus, was appointed 
dictator to save the state from this supposed internal danger. 



52 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. VI. 

He nominated C. Servilius Ahala- his Master of the Horse. 
During the night the Capitol and all the strong posts were 
garrisoned by the patricians, and in the morning Cincinnatus 
appeared in the forum with a strong force, and summoned 
Maelius to appear before his tribunal. But seeing the fate 
which awaited him, he refused to go, whereupon Ahala rushed 
into the crowd and struck him dead upon the spot. His property 
was confiscated, and his house levelled to the ground. The 
deed of Ahala is frequently mentioned by Cicero and other 
writers in terms of the highest admiration, but it was regarded 
by the plebeians at the time as an act of murder. Ahala was 
brought to trial, and only escaped condemnation by a voluntary 
exile. 

In their foreign wars the Romans continued to be successful, 
and, aided by their allies the Latins and Hernicans, they made 
. steady progress in driving back their old enemies 

colonie^ ^°° ^ the Volscians and Aequians. About this time 
they planted several coloniae in the districts which 
they conquered, to consolidate their dominion. These Roman 
colonies differed widely from those of ancient Greece and of 
modern Europe. They were of the nature of garrisons estab- 
lished in conquered towns, and served both to strengthen and 
extend the power of Rome. The colonists, who remained 
citizens of Rome, received a portion of the conquered territory, 
and lived as a ruling class among the old inhabitants, who 
retained the use of the rest of the land, and probably possessed 
a partial citizenship. 

The league now turned its attention to Etruria, its great 
enemy in the north, and a war ensued, in the course of which 
Rome made her first acquisition in the territory of an alien 
nationality. 

Northern Etruria was at this time hard pressed by the Gauls, 
and Veil, which was the chief object of the Roman attack, was 
almost isolated. It was, however, closely allied 
Siege a^ cap- ^-jj^ Fidenae, a town of Latium, not more than 
five or six miles from Rome. The two cities 
frequently united their arms against Rome, and in one of 
these wars Lars Tolumnius, the king of Veii, was slain in 
single combat by A. Cornelius Cussub, one of the Military 
Tribunes, and his arms dedicated to Jupiter — the second of the 



Chap. VI.] CAPTURE OF VEIL 53 

three instances in which the Spdlia Opima were won (437 B.C.). 
A few years afterwards Fidenae was taken and destroj'ed 
(426 B.C.), and at the same time a truce was granted to the 
Veientines for twenty years. At the expiration of this truce 
the war was renewed, and the Romans resolved to subdue Veii, 
as they had done Fidenae. The siege of Veii, Hke that of Troy, 
lasted ten years, and the means of its capture was almost as 
marvellous as the wooden horse by which Troy was taken. The 
waters of the Alban Lake, close to the ancient town of Alba 
Longa, rose to such a height as to deluge the neighbouring 
country. An oracle declared that Veii could not be taken until 
the waters of the lake found a passage to the sea. This reached 
the ears of the Romans, who thereupon constructed a tunnel to 
carry off its superfluous volume.* The formation of this tunnel 
is said to have suggested to the Romans the means of taking Veii. 
M. Furius Camillus, who was appointed dictator, commenced 
digging a mine beneath the city, which was to have its outlet in 
the citadel, in the temple of Juno, the guardian deity of Veii. 
When the mine was finished, the attention of the inhabitants 
was diverted by feigned assaults against the walls. Camillus led 
the way into the mine at the head of a picked body of troops, 
and emerged on the Veientine Capitol in time to complete an 
unfinished sacrifice which the priest was offering to Juno. The 
soldiers who guarded the walls were now taken in the rear, the 
gates were thrown open, and the city soon filled with Romans. 
The booty was immense, and the few citizens who escaped the 
sworcl were sold as slaves. The city was abandoned, and its 
territory divided amongst the plebeians. Falerii was almost 
the only one of the Etruscan cities which had assisted Veii, 
and she was now exposed single-handed to the vengeance of the 
Romans ; but she avoided the fate of her sister city by a timely 
surrender, and the Etruscan war was over (394 B.C.) 

Two circumstances, of great importance for later history, 
originated from the long campaign against Veii. As the soldiers 
Were obliged to pass the whole year under arms, in order to 
invest the city during the winter as well as the summer, they 
now for the first time received pay, and to this circumstance 

* This remarkaWe work, which, after the lapse of more than two thousand 
years, still continues to serve the purpose for which it was originally designed, 
is cut through the soft volcanic tufa of which the Alban hill is composed. 
Tbe length of the tuunel is about 6000 feet, and it is 4 feet 6 inches wide. 



54 HISTORY OF HOME. [Chap. VI. 

we may trace the beginnings of a standing army at Rome. At 
the same time, the cavalry was increased by allowing any one 
possessed of a certain income to serve on horseback at his own 
expense {eques equo privato), and thus the term equites, ori- 
ginally applied to the horsemen of the eighteen centuries, was 
extended to the wealtliy members of the middle-class. 

Camillus celebrated a splendid triumph for his conquest of 
Veii. He entered the city in a chariot drawn by white horses, 
and he brought with him from the conquered 
town the statue of Juno, for whom a splendid 
temple was now erected on the Aventine. But the victories of 
Camillus did not win him popularity. His extravagant triumph 
was taken as a sign of more than human pride, and he now 
incurred the hatred of the plebeians by calling upon every man 
to refund a tenth of the booty taken at Veii, because he had 
made a vow to consecrate to Apollo a tithe of the spoil. He 
was himself accused of having appropriated the great bronze 
gates at Veii, and was impeached by one of the tribunes. Seeing 
that his condemnation was certain, he went into exile, with the 
disloyal prayer that the Eepublic might soon have cause to 
regret him (391 B.C.). His prayer was heard, for the Gauls 
had already crossed the Apennines, and next year Rome was iu 
ashes. 





Fragment of sculpture from the pediment of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, 



CHAPTER VII. 

FROM THE CAPTURE OF ROME BY THE GAULS TO THE FINAL 
UNION OF THE TWO ORDERS. 390-367 B.C. 

The Gauls were a branch of the Celtic race which in ancient 

times spread over the greater part of Western Europe. It 

inhabited Gaul and the British Isles, and it bad, . 

as we saw, in the time of the Tarquins crossed iJ^Jiy^^^y j^g 

the Alps and taken possession of Northern Italy. Qa^^^g^ 

These Gallic invaders now spread further south, 

crossed the Apennines, and laid waste with fire and sword the 

provinces of Central Italy. Rome fell before them, and was 

reduced to ashes; but the details of its capture are clearly 

legendary. The common story runs as follows : — 

The Senones, a tribe of the Gauls, under the leadership of 

" the Brennus," * laid siege to Clusium, the powerful Etruscan 

city over which Lars Porsena once reigned. Such reputation 

* Brennus, given by our authorities as a proper name, is probably a titde, tUo 

Cymric brenhin, or king. 



56 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. VII. 

had Rome gained through her conquests in Etruria, that Clusium 
apphed to her for aid (391 b.c). The senate sent three ambas- 
sadors of the Fabian house to warn the barbarians not to touch 
an ally of Rome. But the Gauls treated their message with 
Bcorn ; and the ambassadors, forgetting their sacred character, 
fought in the Clusine ranks. One of the Fabii slew with his own 
hands a Gallic chieftain, and was recognized while stripping off 
his armour. " The Brennus " therefore sent to Rome to demand 
satisfaction. It might have been granted by the senate, but 
the current of popular feeling was too strong ; the Roman people 
not only refused to give it, but elected the guilty ambassadors 
Military Tribunes for the following year. On hearing of this 
insult, the Gauls broke up the siege of Clusium, and hastened 
southwards towards Rome. All the inhabitants fled before them 
into the towns. They pursued their course without injuring any 
one, crying to the guards upon the walls of the towns they 
passed, " Our way lies for Rome." 

On the news of their approach the Roman army hurried out 
of the city, and on the 16th of July (390 b.c), a day ever after 
marked with black letters on the calendar, they 
AUia* ** ^ ™^* *^^ Gauls on the Allia, a small river which 
flows into the Tiber, on its left bank, about eleven 
miles from Rome. The Roman legions, unfamiliar with the 
impetuous character of the Celtic attack, broke at the first 
furious onset of the Gauls. Most of the soldiers were cut 
down, others turned and fled ; even such as escaped by crossing 
the Tiber found themselves on the wrong side of the river, and 
the path to Rome lay open to the Gauls. 

The loss at the Allia had been so great that enough men were 
not left to guard the walls of the city. It was therefore resolved 
that those in the vigour of their age should withdraw to the 
Capitol, taking with them all the provisions in the city ; that the 
priests and vestal virgins should convey the objects of religious 
reverence to Caere ; and that the rest of the population should 
disperse among the neighbouring towns. But the aged patricians 
who had held high rank, seeing that their lives were no longer 
of any service to the state, sat in the porches of their houses in 
full official robes, awaiting death. When the Gauls entered the 
city they found it desolate and deathlike. They marched on, 
without seeing a human being, till they came to the forum. 



Chap, VII.] THE GALLIC INVASION. 67 

Here they beheld the aged senators sitting immovable, like 
beings of another world. For some time they gazed in awe at 
this strange sight, till at length one of the Gauls ventured to go 
up to M. Papirius and stroke his white beard. The old man 
struck him on the head with his ivory sceptre ; whereupon the 
barbarian slew him, and all the rest were massacred. The 
Gauls now began plundering the city ; fires broke out in several 
quarters ; and with the exception of a few houses on the Pala- 
tine, which the chiefs kept for their own residence, the whole 
city was burnt to the ground. 

The Capitol was the next object of attack. There was only 
one steep way leading up to it, and all the assaults of the 
besiegers were easily repelled. They thereupon 
turned the siege into a blockade, and for seven J'^^-^ ? 
months were encamped amid the ruins of Rome. 
But their numbers were soon thinned by disease, for they had 
entered Rome in the most unhealthy time of the year, when 
fevers have always prevailed. The ftiilure of provisions obliged 
them to ravage the neighbouring countries, the people of which 
began to combine for defence against the marauders. Meantime 
the scattered Romans took courage. They collected at Veii, and 
here resolved to recall Camillus from banishment, and appoint 
him dictator. In order to obtain the consent of the senate, a 
daring youth, named Pontius Cominius, offered to swim across 
the Tiber and climb the Capitol. He reached the top unper- 
ceived by the enemy, obtained the approval of the senate to the 
appointment of Camillus, and returned safely to Veii. But next 
day some Gauls observed the traces of his steps, and in the dead 
of night they climbed up the same way. The foremost of them 
had already reached the top, unnoticed by the sentinels and the 
dogs, when the cries of some geese roused M. Manlius from 
sleep. These geese were sacred to Juno, and had been spared 
notwithstanding the gnawings of hunger ; and the Romans were 
now rewarded for their piety. M. Manlius thrust down the Gaul 
who had clambered up, and gave the alarm. The Capitol was 
thus saved ; and down to latest times M. Manlius was honoured 
as one of the greatest heroes of the early Republic. 

Still no help came, and the Gauls remained before the Capitol. 
The Romans suffered from famine, and at length agreed to pay 
the barbarians 1000 pounds of gold, on condition of their 



58 HISTORY" OF ROME. [Chap. VII. 

quitting the city and its territory. " The Brennus " brought false 
weights, and, when the Romans exclaimed against this injustice, 

the Gallic chief threw his sword also into the scale, 
t R ^ crying, " Woe to the vanquished ! " ( Vae victis !). 

The Gauls then retired, having bartered victory 
for gold. Tradition, indeed, tells that at this very moment 
Camillas marched into the forum, ordered the gold to be taken 
away, and drove the Gauls out of the city, and that another 
battle was fought on the road to Gabii, in which the Gauls were 
completel^"^ destroyed, and their leader Brennus taken prisoner. 
But this is an invention of Roman vanity. We learn from 
other sources that the Gauls retreated because their settlements 
in Northern Italy were attacked by the Venetians ; nor was 
their withdrawal final : they frequently repeated their inroads, 
and for many years to come were the constant dread of Rome. 

When the Romans returned to the heap of ruins which was 
once their city, their hearts sank within them. The people 

shrank from the expense and toil of rebuilding 
^""o rr**' ^^^^^ houses, and loudly demanded that they 
invasion should all remove to Veil, where the private 

dwellings and public buildings were still stand- 
ing. But Camillus strongly urged them not to abandon the 
homes of their fathers ; and tliey were at length persuaded to 
remain. Within a year the city rose from its ashes ; but the 
streets were narrow and crooked ; tlie houses were frequently 
built over the sewers ; and the city continued to show, down to 
the great fire of Nero, evident traces of the haste and irregularity 
with which it had been rebuilt. 

Rome was now deprived of almost all her subjects, and her 
territory was reduced to nearly its original limits. The Latins 
and Hernicans dissolved the league with thu Romans, and wars 
broke out on every side. In these difficulties and dangers Camillus 
was the soul of the Republic. Again and again he led the Roman 
legions against their enemies, and always with success. 

The rapidity with which the Romans recovered their power 

after so terrible a disaster would seem unaccount- 
Eenewed in- gi^jg^ ^^^t f^j, t^g f^cts that the other nations had 
Qj^j^g also suffered greatly from the inroads of the 

Gauls, who still continued to ravage Central 
Italy, and that these Gallic invasions forced the Italians to 



Chap. VlL] MANLIUS. 59 

recognize in Rome their bulwark against the barbarians. Two 
famous family legends grew out of these invasions, which may 
be related here, though they belong to a later period. 

In 361 B.C. the Gauls and Eomans were encamped on either 
bank of the Arno. A gigantic Gaul stepped forth from the 
ranks and insultingly challenged a Roman knight. T. Manlius, 
a Roman youth, obtained permission from his general to accept 
the challenge, slew the giant, and took from the dead body the 
golden chain {torques) which the barbarian wore around his neck. 
His comrades gave him the surname of Torquatus, which he 
handed down to his descendants. 

In 349 B.C. another distinguished Roman family earned its 
surname from a single combat with a Gaul. Here again a 
Gallic warrior of gigantic size challenged any one of the 
Romans to single combat. His challenge was accepted by 
M. Valerius, upon whose helmet a raven perched ; and as they 
fought, the bird flew into the face of the Gaul, striking at him 
with his beak and flapping his wings. Thus Valerius slew the 
Gaul, and was called in consequence " Corvus," or the " Raven." 

Meanwhile, Rome, though she had survived the stress of war, 
was again on the verge of a social revolution. Great suffering 
and discontent prevailed. Returning to ruined 
homes and ravaged lands, the poor citizens had .^ resso 
been obliged to borrow money to rebuild their 
houses and cultivate their farms. The law of debtor and 
creditor at Rome, as we have already seen, was very severe, 
and many unfortunate debtors were carried away to bondage. 

Under these circumstances, M. Manlius, the preserver of the 
Capitol, came forward as the patron of the poor. This dis- 
tinguished man had been bitterly disappointed in __ .. 
his claims to honour and gratitude. While 
Camillus, his personal enemy, who had shared in none of the 
dangers of the siege, was repeatedly raised to the highest 
honours of the state, he, who had saved the Capitol, was left 
to languish in a private station. Neglected by his own order, 
Manlius turned to the plebeians. One day he recognized in the 
forum a soldier who had served with him in the field, and whom 
a creditor was carrying away in fetters. Manlius paid his debt 
upon the spot, and swore that, as long as he had a single 
pound, he would not allow any Roman to be imprisoned for 



60 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. VII. 

debt. He sold a large part of his property, and applied the 
proceeds to the liberation of his fellow-citizens from bondage. 
Supported now by the plebeians, he came forward as the accuser 
of his own order, and charged them with appropriating to their 
own use the gold which had been raised to ransom the city 
from the G-auls. The patricians, in return, accused him, as they 
had accused Sp. Cassius, of aspiring to the tyranny. When he 
was brought to trial before the Comitia of the Centuries, in the 
Campus Martius, he proudly showed the spoils of thirty warriors 
whom he had slain, the forty military distinctions which be had 
won in battle, and the innumerable scars upon his breast, and 
then, turning towards the Capitol, he prayed the immortal gods 
to remember the man who had saved their temples from 
destruction. After such an appeal his condemnation was im- 
possible ; and his enemies therefore contrived to break iip the 
assembly. Shortly afterwards he was arraigned on the same 
charges before the Comitia, at a place without the walls from 
which the Capitol could be no longer seen. Here he was at 
once condemned, and was hvu'led from the Tarpeian rock. His 
house, which was on the Capitol, was razed to the ground 
(384 B.C.). 

The death of Manlius, however, was only a temporary check 
to the cause of reform. The agitation was now taken up by 
. . the rich plebeians, who aspired to public office; 

Rofi-ations ^^^ ^^ ^^^ necessary to enlist the rank and file of 
their order in the cause by proposing social 
reforms. In 376 b.c. C. Licinius Stolo and his kinsman L. 
Sextius, being Tribunes of the Plebs, brought forward three 
laws, which are celebrated in history under the name of The 
LiCTNiAN Rogations.* These were — 
I. That in future consuls, and not Military Tribunes, should be 

appointed, and that one of the two consuls must be a 

plebeian. 
n. That no citizen should possess more than 500 jugera f of 

the public land, nor should feed upon the public pastures 

more than 100 head of large and 500 of small cattle, under 

penalty of a heavy fine. 

• A Rogatio differed from a Lex, as a Bill from an Act of Parliament. 
A rogatio was a law submitted to the assembly of the people, and only became 
a lex when enacted by them. 

t A jugerum was rather more than half an acre. 



Chap. VII.] THE LICINIAN ROGATIONS. 61 

III. That the interest already paid for borrowed money should 
be deducted from the principal, and that the remainder 
should be repaid in three yearly instalments. 
These great reforms naturally excited the most violent 
opposition, and the patricians induced some of the tribunes 
to put their veto upon the measures of their political 
colleagues. But Liciniue and Sextius were not struggle be- 
to be baffled in this way, and they exercised tween the 
their veto by preventing the Comitia Centuriata o™ers. 
from electing any magistrates for the next year. Hence no 
consuls, military tribunes, censors, or quaestors, could be ap- 
pointed; the tribunes and the aediles of the plebs, who were 
elected by the Concilium PJebis, were the only magistrates in 
the state, most of the public business was suspended, and all 
the courts were closed. For five years did this anarchy con- 
tinue. C. Licinius and L. Sextius were re-elected annually, and 
prevented the Comitia of the Centuries from appointing any 
magistrates. At the end of this time they allowed Military 
Tribunes to be chosen in consequence of a war with the Latins; 
but so far were they from yielding any of their demands, that 
to their former Kogations they now added another: That the 
care of the Sibylline books, instead of being entrusted to two 
men {duumviri), both patricians, should be given to ten men 
{decemviri), half of whom should be plebeians. 

Five years more did the struggle last, but the firmness of the 
tribunes at length prevailed. In 367 B.C. the Licinian Eoga- 
tions were passed, and L. Sextius was elected 
the first plebeian consul for the next year. But ConsiUsMp 
the patricians made one last effort to evade the plebeians 
law. By the Koman constitution the consuls, 
after being elected by the Comitia Centuriata, required the 
ratification of their imperium from the Comitia Curiata. The 
patricians, who exercised great influence in this assembly, 
persuaded it to nullify the election of L. Sextius ; and they 
had already made Camillus, the great champion of their order, 
dictator, to support them in their new struggle. But the old 
hero saw that it was too late, and determined to bring about 
a reconciliation between the opposing parties. A compromise 
was effected. The imperium was conferred upon L. Sextius ; 
but the judicial duties were taken away from the consuls, and 



62 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. VII. 

given to a new magistrate, called praetor.* Camillus vowed 
to the goddess Concord a temple for his success. 

The long struggle between the patricians and plebeians 
was thus brought to a virtual close. The patricians still clung 

obstinately to the exclusive privileges which they 
Further oon- gj.jjj poggggggfj . but when the plebeians had once 

obtained a share in the consulship, it was evident 
that their participation in the other offices of the state could 
not be much longer delayed. We may therefore anticipate the 
course of events by narrating in this place that the first plebeian 
dictator was C. Marcius Rutilus, in 356 B.C., that the same man 
was the first plebeian censor five years afterwards (351 b.c.) ; 
that the praetorship was thrown open to the plebeians in 337 B.C. ; 
and that the Lex Ogulnia in 300 B.C., which increased the 
number of the pontiffs from four to eight, and that of the 
augurs from four to nine, also enacted that four of the pontiffs . 
and five of the augurs should be taken from the plebeians. 

About thirty years after the Licinian Rogations, another 
important reform, which abridged still further the privileges of 

the patricians, was effected by the Publilian 
Laws^*^ Laws, proposed by the Dictator Q. Publilius 

Philo in 339 b.c. These were — 

I. That the resolutions of the plebs (plebiscita) passed in the 

Concilium Plebis should be binding on all the Quirites.f 

II. That all laws passed at the Comitia Centuriata must 

receive the sanction of the patrician members of the senate 
(patrum auctoritas) before and not after their enactment ; 
this sanction was soon reduced to a mere formality. 

III. That one of the censors must be a plebeian. 

The first of these laws seems to be little more than a re- 
enactment of one of the ValerianoHoratian Laws, passed after 
Close of the ^^^ expulsion of the decemvirs;:]: but it is 
struggle be- possible that those measures, and even the Publi- 
tween the Han Law of 339 B.C., merely provided facilities 

orders. f^j. bringing plebiscita before the Comitia Centu- 

riata, there to be passed into law. It was an enactment of 
the Dictator Q. Hortensius in 287 e.g. that first gave plebiscita 
the force of leges. In this year the last secession of the 
plebeians took place, and the Lex Hoktensia is always 

• Cf. p. 31. t Ut plebiscita omnes Quirites tenerent. t See p. 49. 



Chap. VII.] EQUALISATION OF THE ORDERS. 



63 



mentioned as the law which gave to plebiscita passed at the 
Concilium of the Tribes the full power of laws binding upon 
the whole nation. During this period we can also trace the 
growth of a third assembly composed of patricians and plebeians, 
and meeting by tribes (Coviitia Trihuta), which possessed legis- 
lative and judicial power and elected the lower magistrates.* 

The close of the long struggle between the orders had left 
victory with the plebeians. Thej" formed the majority of two of 
the sovereign assemblies (the Comitia Centuriata and Tributa), 
and the whole of the third (the Concilium Flebis) ; one place 
in the highest magistracies and half the vacancies in the priestly 
colleges Avere assured them, the other places and vacancies 
they might secure. Rome was now nearer a democracy than 
at any other period of her history, for the great power of the 
senate had not yet cast its shadow over the state. 

* See note on p. 44. 




Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus (froni a coiny 



*m:'''w*i^w*j ^imwm 



^i5iM15M5MiSTMEi^ |r , , ^^^^ffllg^E j^TaJOT 













Samnite warriors ^frum a oiural paiuiiug at Paustum). 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE LATIN AND SAMNITE WARS. 367-290 B.C. 

United at homo, the Romans were now prepared to cany on 
their foreign wars with more vigour. But the years which 
immediately followed the Licinian Laws were times of great 
suffering. A pestilence raged in Rome, which carried off many 
of the most distinguished men, and among others tlie aged 
Camillus (362 B.C.). The Tiber overflowed its banks, the city 
was shaken by earthquakes, and a yawning chasm opened in 
the forum. Superstitious fears were excited, and the sooth- 
sayers declared that the gulf could never be filled up except by 
throwing into it that which Rome held most valuable. The 
tale runs that, when every one was doubting what the gods 
could mean, a noble youth named Mettus Curtius came forward, 
and, declaring that Rome possessed nothing so valuable as 
her brave citizens, mounted his steed and leaped into the 
abyss in full armour, whereupon the earth closed over him 
(362 B.C.). 
During the next few years the Gauls renewed those inroads, in 



Chap. Vm.] PifiST SAMNITE WAtl. ^S 

which Manlius Torquatus and Valerius Corvus gained such glory. 

The Romans steadily extended their dominion over the southern 

part of Etruria and the countr}^ of the Volscians ; 

the alHance with the Latin league stood firm, Extension of 

and the cities of this league were rapidl}'' be- dominion 

coming mere dependencies of Eome, for she 

remodelled their constitutions and treated defection from the 

league as revolt from herself. Fifty years had elapsed since the 

capture of the city by the Gauls, and Rome was now strong 

enough to enter into a contest with the most formidable enemy 

which her arms had yet encountered. 

The Samnites were at the height of their power, and the 

contest between them and the Romans was virtually for the 

supremacy of Italy. The Samnites, as we have 

already seen, were a people of Sabellian origin, ^°°^^®^ ^ ° 

, , , . 1 , . , • 1 ? the Samnites. 

and had emigrated to the countries which they 

inhabited at a comparatively late period. Not contented with 

their mountain-homes, they had, as we saw, overrun the rich 

plains which Jay at their feet ; already they had become the 

masters of Campania and Lucania, and had spread themselves 

almost to the southern extremity of Italy. But the Samnites of 

Campania and Lucania had in course of time broken ofl* all 

connection with the parent nation, and were sometimes engaged 

in hostilities with the lattei-. 

It was a contest of this kind that led to the war between the 

Eomans and the Samnites of the Apennines. On the borders 

of Campania and Samnium dwelt a people called 

the Sidicini, who had hitherto preserved their "^^^ Campa- 

independence. Being attacked by the Samnites, Rome 

this people implored the assistance of the Cam- 

panians, which was readily granted. Thereupon the Samnites 

turned their arms against the Campanians, and, after occupying 

Mount Tifata, which overlooks the city of Capua, they descended 

into the plain, and defeated the Campanians in a pitched battle 

at the very gates of Capua. The Campanians, being shut up 

within the city, now applied for assistance to Rome, and offered 

to place Capua in their hands. The Romans had only a few 

years previously concluded an alliance with the Samnites ; but 

the bait of the richest city and the most fertile soil in Italy was 

irresistible ; and they resolved to comply with the request. Thus 



6« HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. VIII. 

began the Samnite Wars, which, with a few intervals of peace, 
lasted fifty-three years. 

FmsT Samnite Wak, 343-341 b.c. — The Eomans commenced 

the war by sending two consular armies against the Samnites ; 

. and the first battle between the rival nations was 

IJrst Sammte ^^^^^^^ ^t the foot of Moimt Gaurus, which Hes 

about three miles from Cumae. The Samnites 
were defeated with great loss ; and it has been justly remarked 
that this battle may be regarded as one of the most memorable 
in history, since it was a kind of omen of the ultimate issue of 
the great contest which had now begun between the Samnites 
and Romans for the sovereignty of Italy. The Romans gained 
two other decisive victories, and both consuls entered the city 
in triumph. ^ But two causes prevented the Romans from prose- 
cuting their success. In the first place, the Roman army, which 
had been wintering in Capua, rose in open mutiny ; and the 
poorer plebeians in the city, who were oppressed by debt, left 
Rome and joined the mutineers. In .the second place, the 
increasing disaffection of the Latins warned the Romans to 
husband their resources for another and more terrible struggle. 
The Romans, therefore, abandoning the Sidicini and Campanians, 
concluded a treaty of peace and alliance with the Samnites in 
341 B.C., so that in the great Latin war, which broke out in the 
following year, the Samnites fought on the side of the Romans. 
The LATm War, 340-338 b.c. — The increasing power of 
Rome had excited the alarm of the Latin states ; and it became 

evident to them that, though nominally on a 
theTatins* footing of equality, they were in reality becoming 

her subjects. This feeling was confirmed by the 
treaty of alliance which the Romans had formed with the 
Samnites. The Latins, therefore, determined to bring matters 
to a crisis, and sent two praetors, who were their chief magis- 
trates, to propose to the Romans that the two nations should 
henceforth form one state, that half of the senate should consist 
of Latins, and that one of the two consuls should be chosen 
from Latiura. These requests excited the greatest indignation 
at Rome, and were rejected with the utmost scorn. The senate 
met in the temple of Jupiter, in the Capitol, to receive the Latin 
deputation, and, after hearing their proposals, the consul T. 
Maalius Torquatus, the same who had slain the Gaul in single 



Chap. VIII.] THE LATIN WAR; 67 

combat, declared that, if the Republic should be so cowardly 
as to yield to these demands, he would come into the senate- 
house sword in hand, and cut down the first Latin he saw there. 
The tale goes on to say that in the discussion which followed, 
when both parties were excited by anger, the Latin praetor 
defied the Roman Jupiter; that thereupon an awful peal of 
thunder shook the building; and that, as the impious man 
hurried down the steps from the temple, he fell from top to 
bottom, and lay there a corpse. 

War was now declared, and the most vigorous efforts were 
made on both sides. The contest was to decide whether Rome 
should become a simple member of the Latin 
league, or the Latins be subject to Rome. The ., ^? Y^^ ® 
Romans had elected to the consulship two of 
their most distinguished men. The patrician consul was, as 
already mentioned, T. Manlius Torquatus ; his plebeian colleague 
was P. Decius Mus, who had gained great renown in the recent 
war against the Samnites. Meantime Capua, freed from fears 
of the Samnites, had thrown off its half-hearted allegiance to 
Rome and joined the Latins in their revolt. The two consuls 
now marched straight on Capua, and the contest was thus with- 
drawn from the territory of Rome and transferred to Campania, 
where the Romans could receive assistance from the neighbour- 
ing country of their Samnite allies. 

It was at the river Veseris near the foot of Mount Vesuvius 
that the two armies met, and here the battle was fought which 
decided the contest. It was like a civil war. 
The soldiers of the two armies spoke the same ^***1^^ °^ 
language, had fought by each other's sides, and Xrifanum. 
were well known to one another. Under these 
circumstances, the consuls pubhshed a proclamation that no 
Roman should engage in single combat with a Latin on pain of 
death. But the son of Torquatus, provoked by the insults of a 
Tusculan oflScer, accepted his challenge, slew his adversary, and 
carried the bloody spoils in triumph to his father. The consul 
had within him the heart of Brutus; he would not pardon 
this breach of discipline, and ordered the unhappy youth to 
be beheaded by the lictor in the presence of the assembled 
army. 

In the night before the battle a vision appeared to each 



68 History of rome. [Chap. viii. 

consul, announcing that the general of one side and the army 
of the other were doomed to destruction. Both agreed that the 
one whose wing first began to waver should devote himself and 
the army of the enemy to the gods of the lower world. Decius 
commanded the left wing ; and when it began to give way, he 
resolved to fulfil his vow. Calling the Pontifex Maximus, he 
repeated after him the form of words by which he devoted 
himself and the army of the enemy to the gods of the dead and 
the mother earth; then leaping upon his horse, he rushed into 
the thickest of the fight, and was slain. The Romans gained a 
signal victory. Scarcely a fourth part of the Latins escaped 
(340 B.C.). 

Yet this victory (decisive as> the legend makes it) did not 
conclude the war. It required another battle fought at Trifanum 
in the same year to make the Romans masters of 
f th° T t '"^ Latium and Campania. The war continued two 
league. years longer, each city confining itself to the 

defence of its own walls, and hoping to receive 
help from others in case of an attack. But in 338 B.C. all the 
Latins had laid down their arms, and garrisons were placed in 
their towns. The Romans were now absolute masters of Latium, 
and their first act was to dissolve the league. For this purpose 
not only were all assemblies for political purposes forbidden; 
but separate treaties were made with the separate states, and in 
order to keep the cities completely isolated, the citizens of one 
town were forbidden to marry or make a legal contract of bargain 
or sale with another.* Tibur and Praeneste, the two most 
powerful cities of the league, which had taken the most active 
part in the war, were deprived of a portion of their land, but 
were allowed to retain a nominal independence, preserving 
their own laws and renewing their treaties {foedera) with 
Rome. The inhabitants of several other towns, such as Aricia, 
Pedum, and Lanuvium, lost their independence and received 
the full Roman franchise. In Campania the private rights 
of citizenship were given to Fundi, Formiae, Cumae, and 
Capua. 

Twelve years elapsed between the subjugation of Latium and 
the commencement of the Second Samnite War. During this 

* According to the Boman expression, the Jus Conubii and Jus Commercii 
were prohibited. 



Chap. VJII.] SECOND SAMNITE WAR. 69 

time the Eoman arms continued to make steady progress. One 
of their most important conquests was that of the Volscian 
town of Privernum in 330 B.C., from which time 
the Volscians, so long the formidable enemies of greek'^oities^ 
Rome, disappear as an independent nation. The 
extension of the Roman power naturally awakened the jealousy 
of the Samnites ; and the assistance rendered by them to the 
Greek cities of Palaeopolis and Neapolis was the immediate 
occasion of the Second Samnite War, These two cities were 
colonies of the neighbouring Cumae, and were situated only 
five miles from each other. The position of Palaeopolis, or the 
" Old City," is uncertain ; but Neapolis, or the " New City," 
stands on the site of a part of the modern Naples. The 
Romans declared war against the two cities in 327 B.C., and 
sent the Consul Q. Publilius Philo to reduce them to subjection. 
The Greek colonists had previously formed an alliance with 
the Samnites, and now received powerful Samnite garrisons. 
Publilius encamped between the cities ; and as he did not succeed 
in taking them before his year of office expired, the important 
step was for the first time taken of continuing the consul in his 
command with the title of proconsul. At the beginning of the 
following year Palaeopolis surrendered ; and with Neapohs was 
admitted to alliance with Rome on favourable terms. Mean- 
while the Romans had declared war against the Samnites. 

Second or Great Samnite War, 326-304 e.g. — The Second 
Samnite War lasted twenty-two years, and was by far the most 
important of the three wars which this people 
waged with Rome. During the first five years ■^^TyjJa.r'^' 
(326-322 B.C.) the Roman arms were generally 
successful. The Samnites became so disheartened that they 
sued for peace, but obtained only a truce for a year. It was 
during this period that the well-known quarrel took place 
between L. Papirius Cursor and Q. Fabius Maximus, the two 
most celebrated Roman generals of the time, who constantly 
led the armies of the Republic to victory. In 326 B.C. L. Papirius 
was dictator, and Q. Fabius his Master of the Horse. Recalled 
to Rome by some defect in the auspices, the dictator left the 
army in charge of Fabius, but with strict orders not to venture 
upon an engagement. Compelled or provoked by the growing 
boldness of the enemy, Fabius attacked and defeated them with 



70 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. VIII. 

great loss. But this victory was no extenuation for his offence 
in the eyes of the dictator. Papirius hastened back to the 
camp, burning with indignation that his commands had been 
disobeyed, and ordered his lictors to seize Fabius and put him 
to death. The soldiers, whom Fabius had led to victory, rose 
in his defence ; and in the night he escaped to Rome, to implore 
the protection of the senate. He was stating the case to the 
Fathers, when Papirius entered the senate-house followed by 
his lictors, and demanded that the offender should be delivered 
up for execution. But the senate, the people, and the aged 
father of Maximus interceded so strongly for his life, that the 
dictator was obliged to give way, and to grant an ungracious 
pardon. 

The year's truce had not expired when the Samnites again 
took up arras, and for the next seven years (321-315 B.C.) the 
balance of success inclined to their side. Thi^ appears to have 
been mainly owing to the military abilities of their general C. 
Pontius, who deserves to be ranked among the chief men of 
antiquity. In the first year of his command he inflicted upon 
the Romans one of the severest blows they ever sustained in the 
whole course of their history. 

In 321 B.C. the two consuls, T. Veturius and Sp. Postumius 
marched into Samnium by the road from Capua to Beneventum. 

Near the town of Caudium they entered the cele- 
Disaster of brated pass called the Caudine Forks (Furculae 
1 ^j^*^ ^ Caudinae). It consisted of two narrow defiles or 

gorges, between which was a tolerably spacious 
plain, but shut in on each side by mountains. The Romans, 
thinking the Samnites to be far distant, had marched through 
the first pass and the plain ; but when they came to the second 
they found it blocked up by works and trunks of trees, so as to 
be quite impassable. Retracing their steps to the pass by which 
they had entered, they found that the enemy had meantime 
taken possession of this also. They were thus blocked up at 
either end, and, after making vain attempts to force their way 
through, were obliged to surrender at discretion. Thus both 
consuls and four legions fell into the hands of the Samnites. 
C. Pontius made a merciful use of his victory. He agreed to 
dismiss them in safety upon their promising to restore the 
ancient alliance on equal terms between the two nations, and 



Chap. VIII.] SECOND SAMNITE WAR. 71 

to give up all the places which they had conquered during the 
war. The consuls and the other superior officers swore to these 
terms in the name of the Repubhc, and 600 Roman knights 
were given as hostages. The whole Eoman army was now 
allowed to depart, and each Eoman soldier marched out singly 
under the yoke. 

When the news of this disaster reached Eome, the senate 
refused to ratify the peace, on the ground that an imperator in 
the field had no power to make a sworn treaty 
on behalf of the state ; for, according to the "f^^^^^ ^\^^^ 
convenient theory of the senate, this could only ^j^^ Samnites 
be done by afetialis sent from Eome. The two 
consuls and all the officers who had sworn to the peace were 
delivered up as scape-goats to the Samnites; but Pontius 
refused to accept the persons who were thus offered, and told 
them, if they wished to nullify the treaty, to send back the army 
to the Caudine Forks. Thus Postumius and his companions 
returned to Eome, and the 600 knights were alone left in the 
hands of the Samnites. 

The disaster of Caudium shook the faith of many of the 
Eoman alhes, and the fortune of war was for some years in 
favour of the Samnites. But in 314 B.C. the 
tide of success again turned, and the decisive Yictones over 
1 . , T , Etruscans and 

victory 01 the consuls m that year opened the ganmites. 

way into the heart of Samnium. From this time 
the Eomans were uniformly successful ; and it seemed probable 
that the war was drawing to a close, when the Etruscans 
created a powerful diversion by declaring war against Eome in 
311 B.C. But the energy and ability of Q. Fabius Maximus 
averted this new danger. He boldly carried the war into the 
very heart of Etruria, and gained a decisive victory at Perusia 
over the forces of the league. The Samnites also were 
repeatedly defeated ; and, after the capture of Bovianum, their 
chief stronghold, they were compelled to sue for peace. It was 
granted them in 304 B.C., and they were admitted to terms of 
alliance with Rome. 

At the conclusion of the Second Samnite War the Hernicans, 
who had joined the Samnites in 306 B.C., were reduced to sub- 
jection after a brief struggle, and their league was dissolved. 
The Sabellian tribes (the Marsi, Marrucini, Paeiigni, and other 



72 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. VIII. 

nations of Central Italy) entered into a league with the Eomans 
on equal terms. Thus, in 300 B.C., the power of Rome seemed 

firmly established in Central Italy. But this very 
Jnssmution or povsrer awakened the jealousy of the surrounding 
leaeae nations, and the Samnites exerted themselves to 

form a new and formidable coalition. The Etrus- 
cans and Umbrians agreed to make war against Rome, and 
called in the assistance of the Senonian Gauls. 

Third Samnite War, 298-290 b.c. — As soon as the Etruscans 
and Umbrians were engaged with Rome, the Samnites invaded 

Lucania. The Lucanians invoked the assistance 
War ^^^^ ^ of the Romans, who forthwith declared war against 

the Samnites. The Republic had now to contend 
at one and the same time against the Etruscans, Umbrians, 
Gauls, and Samnites ; but she carried on the struggle with the 
utmost energy, attacking the Etruscans, Umbrians, and Gauls 
in the north, and the Samnites in the south. 

At length, in 295 B.C., the Samnites joined their confederates 

in Umbria. In this country, near the town of Sentinum, a 

. desperate battle was fought, which decided the 

of Rome" "^^ fortune of the war. The two Roman consuls were 

the aged Q. Fabius Maximus and P. Decius Mus, 
son of the consul who had sacrificed his life at the battle of Veseris 
(p. 68). The victory was long doubtful. The wing commanded 
by Decius was giving way before the terrible onset of the Gauls, 
when be determined to imitate the example of his father, and 
to devote himself and the enemy to destruction. His death 
gave fresh courage to his men, and Fabius gained a complete 
and decisive victory. Gellius Egnatius, the Samnite general, 
who had taken the most active part in forming the coalition, was 
slain. But, though the league was thus broken up, the Samnites 
continued the struggle for five years longer. During this period 
a C. Pontius, perhaps the very general who had defeated the 
Romans at the Caudiiie Forks twenty-seven years before, or 
possibly his son, appears as the leader of the Samnites, but he 
was defeated by Q. Fabius Maximus with great loss and taken 
prisoner. Being carried to Rome, he was put to death as the 
triumphal car of the victor ascended the Capitol (292 B.C.).* 
This shameful act has been justly branded as one of the greatest 
• See p. 153. 



Chap. VIII.] RESULTS OF THE WARS. 73 

stains on the Eoman annals. Two years afterwards the Sam- 
nites were unable to continue any longer the hopeless struggle, 
and were forced to renew their league with Rome (290 B.C.). 
The complete incorporation of the conquered nation was not 
desired. For the issue of the Latin and Samnite wars had 
given Rome all that she wished. It had enabled her to effect 
the dissolution of the two leagues, to control the Campanian . 
coast, and to reduce to impotence the only rival who could 
dispute her sway in the peninsula 




Coin of Pyrrhus. 



CHAPTER IX. 



FROM THE CONCLUSION OF THE SAMNITE WAR TO THE SUBJUGA- 
TION or iTALr. 290-265 b.c. 

Ten years elapsed from the conclusion of the Third Samnite 
War to the arrival of Pyrrhus in Italy. During this time the 
Etruscans and Gauls renewed the war in the north, but were 
defeated with great slaughter near tbe lake Vadimo ( Vadimonis 
lacus), in Etruria. This decisive battle appears to have completely 
crushed the Etruscan power ; and it inflicted so severe a blow 
upon the Gauls that we hear no more of their ravages for the 
next sixty years. 

The extension of the Roman dominion in the south of the 
peninsula had brought the state into connection with the Greek 

cities, which at one period were so numerous aud 
Greek cities powerful as to give to this part of Italy the name 

of Magna Graecia.* Many of these cities had now 
fallen into decay through internal dissensions and the conquests 
of the Lucanians and other Sabellian tribes ; but Tarentum, 
originally a Lacedaemonian colony, still maintained her former 
power and splendour, and, jealous of the progress of the Roman 
arms in the south of Italy, had secretly instigated the Etruscans 
and Lucanians to form a new coalition against Rome. But it 
was assistance rendered to the Greek city of Thurii which 
brought Rome into immediate conflict with the Tarentines. 
Attacked by the Lucanians, Thurii applied to Rome for aid, and 
the Consul C. Fabricius not only relieved the city, but defeated 
the Lucanians and their allies in several engagements (282 B.C.). 

* See p. 7. 



Chap. IX.] WAR WITH TARENTUM. 75 

Upon the departure of Fabricius, a Roman garrison was left in 
Thurii. The easiest mode now of maintaining communication 
between Rome and this garrison was by sea ; this, however, was 
virtually forbidden by a treaty which the Romans had made 
with Tarentum many years before, in which it was stipulated 
that no Roman ships of war should pass the Lacinian promontory. 
But circumstances were now changed, and the senate deter- 
mined that their vessels should no longer be debarred from the 
gulf of Tarentum. There was a small squadron of ten ships in 
those seas under the command of L. Valerius; and one day 
when the Tarentines were assembled in the theatre, which 
looked over the sea, they saw the Roman squadron sailing 
towards their harbour. This open violation of the treaty roused 
the fury of the people, and, urged on by the vehement eloquence 
of a demagogue, they rushed down to the harbour, quickly 
manned some ships, and gained an easy victorx'' over the small 
Roman squadron. Only half made their escape, four were sunk, 
one taken, and Valerius himself killed. After this the Taren- 
tines marched against Thurii, compelled the inhabitants to 
dismiss the Roman garrison, and then plundered the town. 

The senate sent an embassy to Tarentum to complain of these 
outrages and to demand satisfaction. L. Postumius, who was at 
the head of the embassy, was introduced wiih his 
colleagues into the theatre, to state to the as- .^^ declared 
sembled people the demands of the Roman senate. ^^^^ 
He began to address them in Greek, but his mis- 
takes in the language were received with peals of laughter 
from the thoughtless mob. Unable to obtain a hearing, much 
less an answer, Postumius was leaving the theatre when a 
drunken buffoon rushed up to him and sullied his white robe. 
The whole theatre rang with shouts of laughter and clapping of 
hands, which became louder and louder, when Postumius held 
up his sullied robe and showed it to lhe people. "Laugh on 
now," he cried, " but this robe shall be washed in torrents of 
your blood." 

War was now inevitable. The luxurious Tarentines sent an 

embassy to Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, begging him, 

in the name of all the Italian Greeks, to cross ^^"7*^ or 

. Pyrrhus. 
over into Italy in order to conduct the war against 

the Romans. They told him that they only wanted a general, 



76 HISTORY OP ROME. [Chap. IX. 

and that all the nations of Southern Italy would flock to his 
standard. Pyrrhus, whose ambition soared beyond the limits of 
his poverty-stricken kingdom of Epirus, readily listened to the 
offer. The conquest of Italy might lead to the sovereignty of 
Sicily and perhaps of Africa, and to the founding of a great 
Hellenic kingdom in the West. But as he would not trust the 
success of his enterprise to the valour and fidelity of Italian 
troops, he began to make preparations to carry over a powerful 
army. Meantime he sent Milo, one of his generals, with a 
detachment of 3000 men to garrison the citadel of Tarentum. 
Pyrrhus himself crossed over from Epirus towards the end of 
281 B.C., taking with him 20,000 foot, 3000 horse, and twenty 
elephants. 

Upon reaching Tarentum, he began to make preparations to 
carry on the war with activity. The Tarentines soon found 
they had obtained a master rather than an ally. He shut up 
the theatre and all other public places, and compelled their 
young men to serve in his ranks. Notwithstanding all his 
activity, the Romans were first in the field. The Consul M. 
Valerius Laevinus marched into Lucania; but as the army of 
Pyrrhus was inferior to that of the Romans, he attempted to 
gain time by negotiation, in order that he might be joined by his 
Italian allies. He accordingly wrote to the consul, offering to 
arbitrate between Rome and the Italian states; but Laevinus 
bluntly told him to mind his own business and retire to Epirus. 

Fearing to remain inactive any longer, although he was not 
yet joined by his allies, Pyrrhus marched out against the Romans 
with his own troops and the Tarentines. He took 
Heraclea "P ^^"^ position between the towns of Pandosia 

and Heraclea, on the river Siris. The Romans, 
who were encamped on the other side of the river, were the 
first to begin the battle. They crossed the river, and were 
immediately attacked by the cavalry of Pyrrhus, who led them 
to the charge in person, and distinguished himself, as usual, 
by the most daring acts of valour. The Romans, however, 
bravely sustained the attack; and Pyrrhus, finding that his 
cavalry could not decide the day, ordered his infantry to advance. 
The battle was still contested most furiously : seven times did 
the legions and the phalanx meet ; and it was not till Pyrrhus 
brought forward his elephants, which bore down everything 



Chap. IX.] WAR WITH PYRRHUS. 77 

before them, that the Romans took to flight, leaving their camp 
to the conqueror (280 B.C.). 

This battle taught Pyrrhus the difficulty of the enterprise he 
had undertaken. Before the engagement, when he saw the 
Romans forming their line as they crossed the river, he said to 
his officers, " In war, at any rate, these barbarians are not 
barbarous ; " and afterwards, as he saw the Roman dead lying 
upon the field with all their wounds in front, he exclaimed, " If 
these were my Midlers, or if I were their general, we should 
conquer the world." And, though his loss had been inferior to 
that of the Romans, still so large a number of his officers and 
best troops had fallen, that he said, " Another such victory, 
and I must return to Epirus alone." He therefore resolved to 
avail himself of this victory to conclude, if possible, an advan- 
tageous peace. He sent his minister Cineas to Rome, with the 
proposal that the Romans should recognize the independence of 
the Greeks in Italy, restore to the Samnites, Lucanians, Apulians, 
and Bruttians all the possessions which they had lost in war, and 
make peace with himself and the Tarentines. He promised, if 
peace was concluded on these terms, to retm'n all the Roman 
prisoners without ransom. 

Cineas, whose persuasive eloquence was said to have won 
more towns for Pyrrhus than his arms, neglected no means to 
induce the Romans to accept these terms. The 
prospects of the Republic seemed so dark and ^„°i^g ^^ ^^^* 
threatening, that many members of the senate 
thought it would be more prudent to comply with the demands 
of the king ; and this party would probably have carried the day 
had it not been for the patriotic speech of the aged Ap. 
Claudius Caecus. He denounced the idea of a peace with a 
victorious foe, and stimulated the senate to make the proud 
reply (now heard for the first time) that Rome never negotiated 
with an enemy on Italian soil. 

Cineas returned to Pyrrhus, and told him he must hope for 
nothing from negotiation, that the city was like a temple of 
the gods, and the senate an assembly of kings. 
Pyrrhus now advanced by rapid marches towards ^y^rhus 
•D -XT- J. 1. J. ^ marches on 

Rome, ravagmg the country as he went along, vnme 

and without encountering any serious opposition. 

He at length arrived at Anagnia, in the country of the Hernicans. 



78 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. IX. 

Another march would have brought him within sight of the 
walls of Rome ; but at this moment he learnt that peace was 
concluded with the Etruscans, and that the other consul had 
returned with his army to Rome. All hope of compelling the 
Romans to accept the peace was now gone, and he therefore 
resolved to retreat. He retired slowly into Campania, and from 
thence withdrew into winter quarters at Tarentum. 

As soon as the armies were quartered for the winter, the 

Romans sent an embassy to Pyrrhus to negotiate the ransom 

. or exchange of prisoners. The ambassadors were 

received by P^Trhus in the most distinguished 
manner; and his interviews with G. Fabricius, who was at the 
head of the embassy, form one of the most famous stories in 
Roman history. Fabricius was a fine specimen of the sturdy 
Roman character. He cultivated his farm with his own hands, 
and, like his contemporary Curius, was celebrated for his incor- 
ruptible integrity. The king attempted in vain to work upon 
his cupidity and his fears. He steadily refused the large sums 
of money offered by Pyrrhus ; and when an elephant, concealed 
behind him by a curtain, waved his trunk over his head, Fabricius 
remained unmoved. Such respect did his conduct inspire, that 
Pyrrhus attempted to persuade him to enter into his service and 
accompany him to Greece. The object of the embassy failed. 
The king refused to exchange the prisoners ; but to show them 
his trust in their honour, he allowed them to go to Rome in 
order to celebrate the Saturnalia, stipulating that they were to 
return to Tarentum if the senate would not accept the terms 
which he had previously offered through Gineas. The senate 
remained firm in their resolve, and all the prisoners returned 
to Pyrrhus, the punishment of death having been denounced 
against those who should remain in the city. 

In the following year (279 B.C.) the war was renewed, and 
a battle was fought near Asculum. The Romans fled to their 

camp, which was so near to the field of battle 
Asculum *^ that not more than 6000 fell, while Pyrrhus lost 

more than half this number. The victory yielded 
Pyrrhus little or no advantage, and he was obliged to retire to 
Tarentum for the winter without effecting anything more during 
the campaign. In the last battle, as well as in the former, the 
brunt of the action had fallen almost exclusively upon his Greek 



Chap. IX.] WAR WITH PYRRHUS. 79 

troops ; and the state of Greece, which this year was overrun 
by the Gauls, made it hopeless for him to expect any reinforce- 
ments from Epirus. He was therefore unwilling to hazard his 
surviving Greeks in another campaign with the Romans, and 
accordingly lent a ready ear to the invitations of the Greeks in 
Sicily, who begged him to come to their assistance against the 
Carthaginians. It was necessary, however, first to suspend 
hostilities with the Romans, and to find a fair pretext for bring- 
ing the war to a conclusion. This was afforded at the beginning 
of the following year (278 B.C.) by one of the servants of Pyrrhus 
deserting to the Romans, and proposing to the consuls to poison 
his master. They sent back the deserter to the king, saying 
that they abhorred a victory gained by treason. Thereupon 
Pyrrhus, to show his gratitude, sent Cineas to Rome with all 
the Roman prisoners without ransom and without conditions ; 
he made fresh proposals for peace, hut Rome was now in 
alliance with Carthage, and could not make terms with the 
king. 

But the safety of Syracuse was at stake, and, in spite of the 
protection which he owed to his Italian allies, Pyrrhus left Milo 
with part of his troops in possession of Tarentum, 
and crossed over into Sicily. He remained there ^y^'""!!^ 
upwards of two years. At first he met with giciiy. 
brilHant success, and deprived the Carthaginians 
of a great part of the island, although he failed to dislodge them 
from the impregnable fortress of Lilybaeum. He had built a 
fleet, communications were kept up between Syracuse and 
Tarentum, and evervthing seemed to favour his designs. But 
Pyrrhus ruled the Sicilians as though they were his own Epirote 
peasants, and the Greeks, unaccustomed to strong government, 
now began to form cabals and plots against him. 

This led to retaliation on his part, and he soon became as 
anxious to abandon the island as he had been before to leave 
Italy. Accordingly, when his Italian allies again 
begged him to come to their assistance, he readily t^p^g ^q Italy. 
complied with their request, and arrived in Italy 
in the autumn of 276 bc. His troops were now almost the same 
in number as when he first landed in Italy, but very different in 
quality. The faithful Epirots had for the most part fallen, and 
his present soldiers consisted chiefly of mercenaries whom he 



80 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. IX. 

had levied in Italy. One of his first operations was the recovery 
of Locri, which had revolted to the Romans; and, as he here 
found himself in great difficulties for want of money to pay his 
troops, he was induced to take possession of the treasures of the 
temple of Persephone in that town ; but the ships conveying 
the money were wrecked. This circumstance deeply affected the 
mind of Pyrrhus ; he ordered the treasures which were saved 
to be restored to the temple, and from this time became haunted 
by the idea that the wrath of Persephone was pursuing him and 
dragging him down to ruin. 

The following year (275 B.C.) closed the career of Pyrrhus in 
Italy. The Consul M'. Curius marched into Samnium, and his 

colleague into Lucania. Pyrrhus advanced against 
a e Curius, who was encamped in the neighbourhood 

of Beneventum, and resolved to fight with him 
before he was joined by his colleague. As Curius, not wishing 
to risk a battle with his own army alone, declined to leave his 
camp, Pyrrhus planned a night-attack. But he miscalculated 
the time and the distance ; the torches burnt out, the men missed 
their way, and it was alreadj^ broad daylight when he reached 
the heights above the Roman camp. Still, their arrival was 
quite unexpected ; but as a battle was now inevitable, Curius led 
out his men. The troops of Pyi-rhus, exhausted by fatigue, were 
easily put to the rout ; two elephants were killed and eight more 
taken. Encouraged by this success, Curius no longer hesitated 
to meet the king in the open plain, and gained a decisive 
victory. Pyrrhus arrived at Tarentum with only a few horse- 
men. Shortly afterwards he crossed over to Greece, leaving 
Milo with a garrison at Tarentum. Two years afterwards he 
perished in an attack upon Argos, ingloriously slain by a tile 
hurled by a woman from the roof of a house. 

The departure of Pyrrhus left the Lucanians and other Italian 
tribes exposed to the full power of Rome. They nevertheless 

continued the hopeless struggle a little longer ; 

l'il^!?.*?7.f; but in 272 B.C. Tarentum fell, and in a few 
Rome in Italy. . • x i ^ ^i 

years afterwards every nation in Italy, to the 

south of the Macra and the Rubicon, owned the supremacy of 
Rome. She had now becmie the first power of the Western, 
and one of the first powers in the ancient, world. The 
defeat of Pyrrhus attracted the attention of the nations of 



Chap. IX.] ORGANIZATION OP ITALY. 81 

the East ; and in 273 B.C. Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, 
sent an embassy to Rome, and concluded a treaty with the 
Republic. 

But Rome did not mean to rule as a mistress over the subject 
cities of Italy. Empire was still far from her thoughts, and, 
though she continued the policy adopted on the 
dissolution of the Latin league, destroyed the „* ftniv^ 
existing confederations and isolated the cities from 
one another, yet she granted them the rights of self-government, 
and, where possible, incorporated them more or less completely 
with herself. The population of Italy was divided into three 
broad classes — Cives ii'oma/n', inhabitants of m^wtcj/'m, and Socii. 

I. Gives Romani, or Roman Citizens. — These consisted : (1) 
Of the citizens of the thirty-three tribes into which the Roman 
territory was now divided, and which extended north of the 
Tilier a little beyond Veil, and southwards as far as the Liris; 
though even in this district there were some towns, such as 
Tibur and Praeneste, which did not possess the Roman franchise. 
(2) Of the citizens of Roman colonies planted in different parts 
of Italy. (3) Of the citizens of municipal towns upon whom 
the Roman franchise was conferred. 

II. The municipia were towns to which the Roman citizen- 
ship without the right of voting {civitas sine mffragio) or of 
holding office had been given. They possessed, therefore, the 
rights of trade and intermarriage with Rome {jus conuhii et 
commercii). 

III. The Socii were divided into the two classes of (1) the 
Latins, or cities of the Latin name ; and (2) the free and allied 
communities. 

(1) The term Latini was appHed to the colonies founded by 
Rome which did not enjoy the rights of Roman citizenship, and 
which stood almost in the same position with regard to the 
Roman state as had been formerly occupied by the cities of the 
Latin league. The name originated at a period when colonies 
were actually sent out in common by the Romans and Latins, 
but similar colonies continued to be founded by the Romans 
alone long after the extinction of the Latin league. These 
colonists possessed privileges in private and public law. In 
private law they had the right of trade {jus commercii), and 
could sue and be sued in Roman courts. Their distinctive 

o 



82 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. IX. 

public right was capacity for acquiring Roman citizenship. The 
citizen of any Latin colony might emigrate to Rome, and 
be enrolled and give his vote in one of the Roman tribes. 
But after 267 B.C. this right of exile {jus exsulandi) was 
abolished and replaced by the later Latin right which gave full 
citizenship to any one who had held a magistracy in his native 
town. 

(2) The free and allied cities {civitates Itberae or foederatae) 
included the rest of Italy. Rome had either formed a treaty 
{foedus) with, or given a charter (lex data) to, each of these 
cities; and this treaty or charter determined its rights and 
duties. The relation of all the Italian cities to Rome was that 
of a very close military alliance. Contingents of men were 
drawn from most of the states, and requisitions for ships of war 
were made from the Greek cities in the south. 

The political changes in Rome itself, from the time of the 
Latin wars, have been already in great part anticipated. Appius 
Claudius, afterwards named Caecus, or the Blind, 
votes of the introduced a dangerous innovation in the con- 
artisans, stitution during the Second Samnite War. Slavery 
existed at Rome, as among the other nations of 
antiquity ; and as many slaves, from various causes, acquired their 
liberty, there gradually sprung up at Rome a large and, in many 
cases, indigent population of servile origin. These freedmen, 
whose interests became merged in those of the class of landless 
citizens and artisans, were enrolled only in the four city-tribes, so 
that, however numerous they might become, they could influence 
only the votes of four tribes. Appius Claudius, in his censorship 
(312 B.C.), when making out the lists of citizens, allowed the 
freedmen and landless citizens to enrol themselves in any tribe 
they pleased; but this dangerous innovation was abolished by 
the Censors Q. Fabius Maximus and P. Decius Mus (304 B.C.), 
who restored these classes to the four city-tribes. The censor- 
ship of Appius is, however, memorable for the gr(;at public works 
which he executed. He made the great military road called 
the Appian Way (Via Appia), leading from Rome to Capua, a 
distance of 120 miles, which long afterwards was continued 
across the Apennines to Brundusiura. He also executed the 
first of the great aqueducts (Aqua Appia) which supplied Rome 
with such an abundance of water. 



Chap. IX.] PUBLICATION OF LEGAL FORMS. 



83 



This period is also remarkable for the growth of a class of 
lawyers who were no longer members of the sacred guilds. 
Cn. Flavins, the son of a freedman, and secre- 
tary to Appius Claudius, divulged the forms and PwDlication 
times to be observed in legal proceedings. These ^^ jg^_. 
had formerly been the monopoly of the priestly 
colleges; but Flavins, having become acquainted with these 
secrets by means of his patron, published in a book a list of the 
formularies to be observed in the several kinds of actions, and 
also set up in the forum a whited tablet containing a list of all 
the days on which the courts could be held. His action was 
a prelude to the final divorce of Roman law from the trammels 
of the Jus j^ontificium. 




Coin represeutiag Temple of YeaU. 




Koman galley (from Trajan's Column). 



CHAPTER X. ^ 

THE FIRST PUNIC WAE. 264-241 B.C. 



Carthage. 



Rome, now the mistress, was also the protectress of Italy, and- 

the defence of her Italian dependencies necessarily entailed on 

her a long and arduous struggle with Carthage, 

the undisputed mistress of the western waters of 

the Mediterranean. This great and powerful city was founded 

by the Phoenicians * of Tyre in 825 B.C., according to the 

common chronology. Its inhabitants were consequently a 

* The Phoenicians were called by the Latins Poeni, whence the adjective 
punicus, like munire from moenia, and punire frova poena. 



Chap. XJ THE FIRST PUNIC WAR. 85 

branch of tlie Semitic race, to which the Hebrews also belonged. 
Carthage rose to greatness by her commerce, and gradually 
extended her empire over the whole of the north of Africa, from 
the Straits of Hercules to the borders of Cyrene. Her Libyan 
subjects she treated with extreme harshness, and hence they 
were always ready to revolt against her so soon as a foreign 
enemy appeared upon her soil. 

The two chief magistrates at Carthage were elected annually 
out of a few of the wealthiest families, and were called Suffetes* 
There was a senate of large numbers ; but its power was inferior 
to that of a smaller council of 104, which was created to control 
the authority of the generals, and which, by the exercise of its 
judicial power, held an almost sovereign position. The assembly 
of the people was sometimes consulted, but the government was 
practically an oligarchy ; and a few old, rich, and powerful 
families divided among themselves the great offices of state. 
All power was acquired by commercial wealth, as all policy was 
subservient to commercial motives. 

The mercantile had also crushed the military spirit, and in 
her foreign wars Carthage depended upon mercenary troops, 
which her great wealth enabled her to procure in 
abundance from Spain, Italy, and Greece, as well J^elations of 
as from Libya. Sardinia and Corsica were among c^iiy^^^ 
her earliest conquests, and her most cherished 
object was the possession of Sicily. The Phoenician colonies 
in this island came under her dominion as the power of Tyre 
declined ; and having thus obtained a firm footing in Sicily, 
she carried on a long struggle for supremacy with the Greek 
cities. It was here that she came into contact with the Eoman 
arms. The relations of Rome and Carthage had hitherto been 
peaceful, and a treaty, concluded between the two states in the 
first years of the Roman Republic, had been renewed more than 
once. But the extension of Roman dominion had excited the 
jealousy of Carthage ; it was evident that a struggle was not far 
distant, and Pyrrhus could not help exclaiming, as he quitted 
Sicily, " How fine a battle-field are we leaving to the Romans 
and Carthaginians ! " 

The city of Messana, situated on the straits which divide 
Sicily from Italy, was occupied at this time by the Mamertini. 
• Probably the same as the Hebrew shofetim, i.e. judges. 



86 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. X. 

They were a body of Campanian mercenaries, chiefly of Sabellian 
origin, who had served under Agathocles, and after the death 

of that tyrant (289 B.C.) were marched to Mes- 
Tne Mamer- gana, in order to be transported to Italy. Being 
from Rome. hospitably received within the city, they suddenly 

rose against the inhabitants, massacred the 
male population, and made themselves masters of their wives 
and property. They now took the name of Mamertini, or 
" Children of Mars," from Mamers, a Sabellian name for that 
deity. They rapidly extended their power over a considerable 
portion of the north of Sicily, and were formidable enemies to 
Syracuse. Hiero, having become king of Syracuse, determined 
to destroy this nest of robbers, advanced against them with a 
large army, defeated them in battle, and shut them up within 
Messana. The Mamertines were obliged to look out for help ; 
one party wished to appeal to the Carthaginians, and the other 
to invoke the assistance of Eome. The latter ultimately pre- 
vailed, and an embassy was sent to implore immediate aid. 
The temptation was strong, for the occupation of Messana by a 
Carthaginian garrison might prove dangerous to the tranquillity 
of Italy, Still the senate hesitated ; for only six years before 
Hiero had assisted the Eomans in punishing the Campanian 
mercenaries, who had seized Ehegium in the same way as the 
Mamertines had made themselves masters of Messana. But, 
though the senate hesitated, the popular assembly, to whom the 
question was referred, showed no such scruples ; it eagerly voted 
that the Mamertines should be assisted : in other words, that the 
Carthaginians should not be allowed to obtain possession of 
Messana ; and the decisive step was taken which launched Rome 
on her career of conquest beyond the limits of Italy. 

The Consul App. Claudius, the son of the blind censor, 
was to lead an army into Sicily. But during this delay the 
Occupation Carthaginian partj' in Messana had obtained the 
of Messana. ascendency, and Hanno, with a Carthaginian garri- 
War with son, had been admitted into the citadel. Hiero 

Carthage. jj^d concluded peace with the Mamertines through 

the mediation of the Carthaginians, so that there was no longer 
even a pretext for the interference of the Romans. But a legate 
of the Consul App. Claudius, having crossed to Sicily, persuaded 
the Mamertines to expel the Carthaginian garrison. Hiero and 



Chap. X.] THE FIRST PUNIC WAR. 87 

the Carthagiuians now proceeded to lay siege to Messana by sea 
and land, and the Eomans no longer hesitated to declare war 
against Carthage. Such was the corDmencement of the First 
Punic War (264 B.C.). 

The Carthaginians commanded the sea with a powerful fleet, 
while the Romans had no ships of war worthy of the name. 
But the Consul App. Claudius, having contrived to elude the 
Carthaginian squadron, landed near the town of Messana, and 
defeated in succession the forces of Syracuse and Carthage. In 
the following year (263) the Romans followed up their success 
against Hiero. The two consuls advanced to the walls of 
Syracuse, ravaging the territory of the city and capturing many 
of its dependent towns. The king became alarmed at the 
success of the Romans ; and thinking that they would prove 
more powerful than the Carthaginians, he concluded a peace 
with Rome. From this time till his death, a period of nearly fifty 
years, Hiero remained the firm and steadfast ally of the Romans. 

The Romans, now freed from the hostility of S}^^racuse, laid 
siege to Agrigentum, the second ot the Greek cities in Sicily, 
which was now held by the flower of the Car- 
thaginian troops. They blockaded the town, but ~^P^.^^^ ®* 
their supplies were in turn cut off by the Phoe- 
nician fleet, and the distress on both sides was great. At length 
a battle was fought, and the Romans, gaining a decisive victory 
over the Carthaginian army which had been sent to raise the 
siege, obtained possession of the town (262 B.C.). 

The first three years of the war had already made the Romans 
masters of the greater part of Sicily. But the coasts of Italy 
were exposed to the ravages of the Carthaginian 
fleet, and the Romans saw that they could not ^\ ^ ^ 
hope to bring the war to a successful termination 
so long as Carthage was mistress of the sea. To form a fleet in 
the ancient world was not the undertaking it is for a modern 
nation. It required a command of men, money, and materials — 
all of which Rome now possessed in abundance ; for seaman- 
ship, which is a thing of gradual growth, was, in the coasting 
voyages of the time, a secondary consideration. The first 
necessity was to build ships of a heavier kind tlian the few 
triremes of which the Roman navy was composed ; a Cartha- 
ginian quinquereme, which had been wrecked upon the coast of 



88 



HISTOKY OF ROME. 



[Chap. X. 



Italy, served as a model. In the short space of sixty days from 
the time the trees were felled, 130 ships were launched, and 
while the ships were building, the rowers were trained on 
scaffolds placed upon the land like benches of ships at sea. As 
we may imagine, the sea-going power of these Roman ships was 
contemptible ; all that they could boast was weight and size. 

In the fifth year of the war (260 B.C.) one of the consuls, 
Cn. Cornelius, first put to sea with only seventeen vessels, but 
was surprised near Lipara, and taken prisoner, with the whole of 
his squadron. His colleague, C. Duilius, now took the command 

of the rest of the fleet. He saw 
that the only means of conquer- 
ing the Carthaginians by sea 
was to deprive them of all the 
advantages of manoeuvring, and 
to take their ships by boarding. 
For this purpose every ship was 
provided with a boarding- 
bridge, thirty-six feet in length, 
which was pulled up by a rope 
and fastened to a mast in the 
fore part of the ship. As soon 
as an enemy's ship came near 
enough, the rope was loosened, 
the bridge fell down, and became 
fastened by means of an iron 
spike in its under side. The 
boarders then poured down the 
bridge into the enemy's ship. 

Thus prepared, Duilius boldly 
sailed out to meet the fleet of 
the enemy. He found them off 
the Sicilian coast, near Mylae. 
The Carthaginians hastened to 
the fight as if to a triumph, 
but their ships were rapidly seized by the boarding-bridges, 
and when it came to a close fight their crews 
Victory at ^^^.^ ^^ match for the veteran soldiers of Rome. 
My ae. rpj^g victory of Duilius was complete. Thirty-one 

of the enemy's ships were taken, and fourteen destroyed; the 




Columna Rostrata. 



Chap. X.] THE FIRST PUNIC WAR. 89 

rest only saved themselves by an ignominious flight. On his 
return to Rome, Duilius celebrated a magnificent triumph. 
Public honours were conferred upon him ; he was to be escorted 
home in the evening from banquets by the light of torches and 
the sound of the flute, and a column adorned with the beaks of 
the conquered ships, and thence called the Columna Rostrata, 
was set up in the forum.* 

For the next few years the war languished, and nothing of 
importance was eff'ected on either side ; but in the ninth year 
of the struggle (256 b.c.) the Romans resolved by . 

strenuous exertions to bring it to an end. They __ Ag Africa 
therefore made preparations for invading Africa 
with a great force. The two consuls, M. Atilius Regulus and 
L. Manlius, set sail with 330 ships, took the legions on board in 
Sicily, and then put out to sea in order to cross over to Africa. 
The Carthaginian fleet, consisting of 350 ships, met them near 
Ecnomus, on the southern coast of Sicily. Never, perhaps, had 
the ancient world seen a battle in which such numbers were 
engaged. The boarding-bridges of the Romans again annihilated 
all the advantages of maritime skill. Their victory was decisive. 
They lost only twenty-four ships, while they destroyed twenty- 
four of the enemy's vessels, and took sixty-four with all their 
crews. The passage to Africa was now clear ; and the remainder 
of the Carthaginian fleet hastened home to defend the capital. 
The Romans landed near the town of Clupea or Aspis, which 
they took, and there established their head- quarters. From 
thence they laid waste the Carthaginian territory with fire 
and sword, and collected an immense booty from the defence- 
less country. On the approach of winter, Manlius, one of the 
consuls, by order of the senate, returned to Rome with half of 
the army ; while Regulus remained with the other half to prose- 
cute the war. He carried on his operations with the utmost 
vigour, and was greatlj'' assisted by the incompetency of the 
Carthaginian generals. The enemy had collected a considerable 
force ; but the Carthaginian generals avoided the plains, where 
their cavalry and elephants would have given them an advantage 
over the Roman army, and withdrew into the mountains. There 
they were attacked by Regulus, and utterly defeated with great 

* The inscription upon this column, or at any rate a very ancient copy of H, 
is still pre8erve4 in the CapltoUn« Museujn at Poni§. 



90 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. X. 

loss: 15,000 men were killed in battle, and 5000 men, with 
eighteen elephants, were taken. The vanquished troops re- 
tired within the walls of Carthage ; Eegulus now overran the 
country without opposition, and began to plan the siege of the 
capital. Amongst other towns that fell into his power was 
Tunis, which was at the distance of only twenty miles from 
Carthage. The Numidians took the opportunity of recovering 
their independence, and their roving bands completed the devas- 
tation of the country. The Carthaginians in despair sent a 
herald to Eegulus to solicit peace. But the Eoman general, 
intoxicated with success, would only grant it on such intolerable 
terms that the Carthaginians resolved to continue the war, and 
hold out to the last. 

In the midst of their distress and alarm, succour came to 
them from an unexpected quarter. Among the Greek mer- 
Defeat of Re- cenaries who had lately arrived at Carthage was 
gulus. Loss a Lacedaemonian of the name of Xanthippus. 
of Roman He emphasized the folly of lurking in the hills 

fleets. j^jj(j forests ; and he inspired such confidence in 

the government, that he was placed at the head of their troops. 
Eelying on his 4000 cavalry and 100 elephants, Xanthippus 
boldly marched into the open country to meet the enemy.. 
Keguhis, without even attempting to secure his retreat, readily 
accepted battle ; but it ended in his total overthrow ; 30,000 
Eomans were slain : scarcely 2000 escaped to Clupea, and 
Eegulus himself with 500 more was taken prisoner (255 B.C.). 

Another disaster awaited the Eomans in this year. Their 
fleet, which had been sent to Africa to carry off the remains of 
the army of Eegulus, had not only succeeded in their object, 
but had gained a victorj'^ over the Carthaginian fleet. They 
were returning home when they were overtaken off Caraarina, 
in Sicily, by a fearful storm. Nearly the entire fleet was 
destroyed, and the coast was strewn for miles with wrecks and 
corpses. 

The Eomans, with undiminished energy, immediately set to 
work to build a new fleet, and in less than three months 220 
ships were ready for sea. But the same fate awaited them. In 
253 B.C. the consuls had ravaged the coasts of Africa, but on 
their return were again surprised by a fearful storm of!' Cape 
Palinurus. A hundred and fifty ships were wrecked. This 



Chap. X.] THE FIRST PUNIC WAR. 91 

blow, coming so soon after the other, damped the courage even 
of the Roman senate ; it determined not to rebuild the fleet, 
and to keep only sixty ships for the defence of the coast of Italy 
and the protection of the transports. 

The war was now confined to Sicily, but since the defeat of 
Regulus the Roman soldiers had been so greatly alarmed by the 
elephants, that their generals did not venture on 
attack. At length, in 250 B.C., the Roman pro- p^Jimus 
consul, L Metellus, accepted battle under the 
walls of Panormus, and gained a decisive victory. The Car- 
thaginians lost 20,000 men ; thirteen of their generals adorned 
the triumph of Metellus ; and 104 elephants were also led in the 
triumphal procession. This was the most important battle that 
had been yet fought in Sicily, and had a decisive influence upon 
the issue of the contest. It so raised the spirits of the Romans 
that they determined once more to build a fleet of 200 sail. 
The Carthaginians, on the other hand, were anxious to bring 
the war to an end, and accordingly sent an embassy to Rome 
to propose an exchange of prisoners, and to offer terms of 
peace. 

Regulus, who had been now five years in captivity, was allowed 
to accompany the ambassadors, with the promise that he would 
return to Carthage if their proposals were declined, .p . 
This embassy is the subject of one of the most 
celebrated stories in the Roman annals. The orators and poets 
relate how Regulus at first refused to enter the city as a slave 
of the Carthaginians ; how afterwards he would not give his 
opinion in the senate, as he had ceased by his captivity to he 
a member of that illustrious body ; how, at length, when induced 
by his coimtrymen to speak, he endeavoured to dissuade the 
senate- from assenting to a peace, or even to an exchange of 
prisoners ; and when he saw them wavering, from their desire 
to redeem him from captivity, how he told them that the Cartha- 
ginians had given him a slow poison, which would soon terminate 
his life ; and how, finally, when the senate, through his influence, 
refused the offers of the Carthaginians, he firmly resisted all the 
persuasions of his friends to remain in Rome, and returned to 
Carthage, where a martyr's death awaited him. It is related 
that he was placed in a barrel covered over with iron nails, and 
thus perished; other writers state in addition, that, after his 



92 ■ HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. X. 

eyelids had been cut off, he was first thrown into a dark dungeon, 
and then suddenly exposed to the full rays of a burning sun. 
When the news of the barbarous death of Regulns reached 
Rome, the senate is said to have given two of the noblest 
Carthaginian prisoners to the family of Regulus, who re- 
venged themselves by putting them to death with cruel 
torments. 

The Carthaginian dominion in Sicily was now confined to the 
north-western corner of the island; and Lilybaeum and Dre- 
_. . panura were the only two towns remaining in 

Lilybaeum. ^^^^^^ hands. Lilybaeum, situated upon a pro- 
montory at the western extremity of the island, 
was the stronghold of the Carthaginian power ; and accordingly 
the Romans determined to concentrate all their efforts, and to 
employ the armies of both consuls in attacking this city. This 
siege, which is one of the most memorable in ancient history, 
commenced in 250 b.c, and lasted till the termination of the war. 
In the second year of the siege (249 B.C.) the Consul P. 
Claudius, tired of the delay before Lilybaeum, formed the design 
of attacking the Carthaginian fleet in the neigh- 
DreDanum bouring harbour of Drepanum. In vain did the 
auguries warn him ; the keeper of the sacred 
chickens told him that they would not eat. " At any rate," 
said he, "let them drink," and he ordered them to be thrown 
overboard. His impiety met with a meet reward. He was 
defeated with great loss ; ninety-three of his ships were taken 
or destroyed, and only thirty escaped. Great was the indigna- 
tion at Rome. He was recalled by the senate, ordered to appoint 
a dictator, and then to lay down his office. Claudius, in scorn, 
named M. Claudius Glycias, a son of one of his freedmen. But 
the senate would not brook this insult ; thev deprived the 
unworthy man of the honour, and caused A. Atilius Calatinus 
to be appointed in his place. 

The other consul, C. Junius, was equally unfortunate. He 
was sailing along the coasts of Sicily with a convoy of 800 
vessels, intended to relieve the wants of the army 
f th'^'^^*^°'^ at Lilybaeum, when he was overtaken by one of 
g^^ those terrible storms which had twice before 

proved so fatal to the Roman fleets. The trans- 
ports were all dashed to pieces, and of his 105 ships of war 



Chap. X.] THE FIRST PUNIC WAR. 93 

only two escaped. Thus the Roman fleet was a third time 
destroyed. Tliese repeated misfortunes compelled the Romans 
to abandon any fm'ther attempts to contest the supremacy of 
the sea. 

About this time a really great man was placed at the head of 
the Carthaginian army — a man who, at an earlier period of the 
war, might have brought the struggle to a verj' 
different termination. This was the celebrated Hamilcar at 
Hamilcar Barca,* the father of the still more x-py^ 
celebrated Hannibal. He was still a young man 
at the time of his appointment to the command in Sicily 
(247 B.C.). His very first operations were equally daring and 
successful. Instead of confining himself to the defence of Lily- 
baeura and Drepanum, with which the Carthaginian commanders 
had been hitherto contented, he made descents upon the coast 
of Italy, and then suddenly landed on the north of Sicily, and 
established himself with his whole army on a mountain called 
Hercte (the modern Monte Fellegrino), which overhung the 
town of Panormus (the modern Palermo), one of the most 
important of the Roman possessions. Here he maintained him- 
self for nearly three years, to the astonishment alike of friends 
and foes ; and from hence he made continual descents into the 
enemies' country, and completely prevented them from making 
any vigorous attacks either upon Lilybaeum or Drepanum. All 
the efforts of the Romans to dislodge him were unsuccessful ; 
and he only quitted Hercte in order to seize Eryx, a town 
situated upon the mountain of this name, and only six miles 
from Drepanum. This position he held for two years longer, 
until the Romans realized that the only means of driving the 
Carthaginians out of Sicily was to recover their supremacy 
by sea. 

In 242 B.C. the Consul Lutatius Catulus put out with a fleet 
of 200 ships, and in the following year he gained 
a decisive victory over the Carthaginian fleet, y^otory at the 
commanded by Hanno, off the group of islands jifg^aef 
called the Aegates. 

This victory gave the Romans the desired control over the Car- 
thaginian strongholds. Lilybaeum, Drepanum, and Eryx might 

• Barca is the same as the Hebrew word Barak, " lightning." 



94 HISTORY OF ROME, [Chap. X. 

now be reduced by famine. The Carthaginians, weary of the 
war, and indisposed to make any further sacrifices, sent orders 
to Hamilcar to make peace on the best terms he 
C rthaffe could, and it was at length concluded on the con- 

ditions : that Carthage should evacuate Sicily and 
the adjoining islands ; that she should restore the Roman 
prisoners without ransom, and should pay the sum of 3200 
talents within the space often years (241 B.C.). 

The evacuation of Sicily brought Rome face to face with a 
new problem. She could not leave the Sicilian states, like those 
of Magna Graecia, bound to her by the loose ties 
Sioily a pro- ^^ ^ military alliance ; this was rendered impos- 
sible by the insular position of the new conquest 
and the danger from Carthage. So the whole of Sicily, with the 
exception of the territory of Hiero, was organized as a separate 
" department of administration " {provincia), and placed under 
the command of an annual praetor ; and the first stone was laid 
in the foundation of an empire. 




Fiehtine elephant making a prisoner (gem in " Cabinet de France," 
No. l911tCliabouUlei)> 




Coin of Carthage. 



CHAPTEK XI. 

THE CONQUEST OF NORTHERN ITALY. THE CARTHAGINIANS IK 
SP.UN. 240-219 B.C. 

Twenty-three years elapsed between the First and Second 
Punic Wars. The power of Carthage, though crippled, was not 
destroyed; and Hamilcar returned home, burning 
with hatred against Rome, and determined to Mercenary 
renew the war upon a favourable opportunity, tj^^-g 
But a new and terrible danger threatened Carthage 
upon her own soil. The mercenary troops, who had been trans- 
ported from Sicily to Africa at the conclusion of the war, being 
unable to obtain their arrears of pay, rose in open mutiny. 
Their leaders were Spendius, a runaway Campanian slave, and 
Matho, a Libyan. They were quickly joined by the native 
Libyans, and brought Carthage almost to the brink of destruc- 
tion. They laid waste the whole country with fire and sword, 
made themselves masters of all the towns except the capital, 
and committed the most frightful atrocities. Carthage owed her 
safety to the genius and abilities of Hamilcar. The struggle was 
fierce and sanguinary, but was at length brought to a successful 
issue, after it had lasted more than three years, by the destruction 
of all the mercenaries. It was called the War without Peace, 
or the Inexpiable War (238 B.C.). 

The Romans availed themselves of the exhausted condition 
of Carthage to demand from her the islands of Sardinia and 
Corsica, and the payment of a further sum of 1200 talents. 



96 HISTORY OP ROME. [Chap. XL 

The mercenary troops in Sardinia, who had also revolted, had 
applied to Rome for assistance ; and the senate menaced her 
rival with war unless she complied with these 
Kome seizes unjust demands. Resistance was impossible, and 
Sardinia and o t • j nt ■ r -, ■ \ 

Corsica oardmia and Corsica were soon formed into a 

Roman province, governed, like Sicily, by a 
praetor, sent annually from Rome. This is almost the only act of 
unjustifiable acquisition which we shall meet with in Roman 
annals. But the senate had made up its mind that the Tyrrhenian 
sea must belong to Rome, and did not shrink from robbery 
in pursuit of its narrow defensive policy (238 bo.). Hamilcar, 
with his resentment against the grasping Republic deepened by 
this outrage, now departed for Spain, where, for many years, he 
steadily worked to lay the foundation of a new empire, which 
might not only compensate for the loss of Sicily and Sardinia, 
but enable him at some time to renew hostilities against Rome. 

Rome was now at peace, and in 235 B.C. the temple of Janus, 
which had remained open since the days of Numa, was closed 
for a second time. Two new tribes were added to the Roman 
territory, making their total number thirty-five. 

The temple of Janus did not long remain closed. The 

Ill^'rians, who dwelt near the head of the Adriatic upon its 

eastern side, were a nation of pirates, who ravaged 

^ * the coasts of this sea. The senate having sent 

ambassadors to the Illyrian king Agron to complain of these 
outrages, he declined to attend to their complaints, and the 
ambassadors were murdered on their way home. War was 
straightway declared, and a Roman army for the first time 
crossed the Adriatic (229 B.C.). Demetrius of Pharos, an 
unprincipled Greek, who was the chief counsellor of Teuta, 
widow and successor of Agron, deserted his mistress, and sur- 
rendered to the Romans the important island of Corcyra. Teuta 
was obliged to yield to the Romans everything they demanded, 
and promised that the Tllyrians should not appear south of Lissus 
with more than two vessels. The suppression of piracy in the 
Adriatic was hailed with gratitude by the Greek states, and 
deserves notice as the first occasion upon which the Romans 
were brought into immediate contact with Greece. The Consul 
Postumius, who had wintered in Illyria, sent envoys to Athens, 
Corinth, and other Greek cities, to explain what had been done. 



Chap. XL] CONQUEST OF NORTHERN ITALY.' 97 

The envoys were received with honour, and thanks were returned 
to Rome (228 b.c). 

The Romans had scarcely brought this trifling war to an end 
when they became involved in a formidable struggle with their 
old enemies the Gauls. Since the conquest of the . . 
Senones in 283 B.C., and of the Boii in 282 B.C., 
the Gauls had remained quiet. The Romans had founded the 
colony of Sena after the subjugation of the Senones ; and in 
268 B.C. they had still further strengthened their dominion in 
those parts by founding the colonj- of Ariminum. But the 
greater part of the soil from which the Senones were ejected 
became public land. In 232 b.c. the Tribune C. Flaminius 
carried an Agrarian Law to the effect that this portion of the 
public land, known by the name of the " Gallic Land," * should 
be distributed among the poorer citizens. This alarmed the Boii, 
who dwelt upon the borders of this district. They invoked the 
assistance of the powerful tribe of the Insubres, and being joined 
by them, as well as by large bodies of Gauls from beyond the 
Alps, they set out for Rome. 

All Italy was in alarm. The Romans dreaded a repetition of 
the disaster of the Allia. The Sibylline books, when consulted, 
declared that Rome must be occupied twice by a 
foreign foe ; whereupon the senate, to allay the xelamon 
superstitious fears of the people, ordered that two 
Gauls should be buried alive in the forum. The allies eagerly 
offered men and supplies to meet a danger which was common 
to the whole peninsula. An army of 150.000 foot and 6000 
horse was speedily raised. A decisive battle was fought near 
Telamon, in Etruria. The Gauls were hemmed in between the 
armies of the two consuls. As many as 40,000 of their men 
were slain, and 10,000 taken prisoners (225 b.c). The Romans 
followed up their success by invading the country of the Boii, 
who submitted in the following year (224 B.C.), and the plain as 
far as the Po was in the hands of Rome. 

In 223 B.C. the Romans crossed the river, and the Consul C. 
Flaminius gained a brilliant victory over the Insubres. The 
consuls of the next year. On. Cornelius Scipio and M. Claudius 
Marcellus, continued the war against the Insubres, who called 
in to their aid a fresh body of Transalpine Gauls. Marcellus 
• Gallicusager. 

S 



98 HISTORY OF ROME, [Chap. XI. 

slew with his own hand Viridomaras, the chief of the Insubrian 
Gauls, and thus gained the third Spolia Opima. At the same 
time, Scipio took Mediolanium (Milan), the chief 
Extension of ^.^^^ ^^ ^.j^g Insubres. This people now submitted 
beyond theFo. "without conditions, and the war was brought to an 
end. To secure their recent conquests, the Romans 
determined to plant two powerful Latin colonies at Placentia and 
Cremona, on opposite banks of the Po. These were founded in 
218 B.C., and consisted each of 6000 men. The Via Flaminia, 
a road constructed by C. Flaminius from Rome to Ariminum 
(220 B.C.), secured the communication with the north of 
Italy. 

The results of this war were of vast importance, for Italy had 
now reached her natural boundaries. Rome's dominion now 
extended to the Po, and, through the dependent Gallic tribes 
who dwelt beyond that river, her sphere of influence reached 
the Alps. 

Meanwhile Hamilcar, as commander-in-chief of the Cartha- 
ginian army in Spain, with powers that rendered him almost 
entirely independent of the home government, had 
Hamilcar and \^qq^ steadily pursuing a career of conquest. The 
Hasdrnbal in u- i- T ^i • 4. ^ 

Spain subjugation oi this country was only a means to 

an end. His great object, as already stated, was 
to obtain the means of attacking, and, if possible, crushing, that 
hated rival who had robbed his country of Sicily, Sardinia, and 
Corsica. His implacable animosity against Rome is shown by 
the well-known tale, that when he crossed over to Spain in 
236 B.C., taking with him his son Hannibal, then only nine years 
old, he made him swear at the altar eternal hostility to Rome. 
During the eight years that Hamilcar continued in Spain he 
carried the Carthaginian arms into the heart of the country. 
While he conquered several states in war, he gained over others 
by negotiation, and availed himself of their services as allies or 
mercenaries. He fell in battle in 228 B.C., and was succeeded 
in the command by his son-in-law Hasdrubal. His plans were 
ably carried out by his successor. The conciliatory manners of 
Hasdrubal gained him the affections of the Spaniards ; and he 
consolidated the Carthaginian empire in Spain by the foundation 
of New Carthage, now Cartagena, in a situation admirably chosen 
on account of its excellent harbour and easy communication with 



Chap. XL] HANNIBAL IN SPAIN. 99 

Africa, as well as from its proximity to the silver-mines, which 
supplied him with the means of paying his troops. His trusted 
lieutenant was the youthful Hannibal, who had been trained in 
arms under the eye of his father, and who already displayed that 
ability for war which Rome was so soon to feel. The successes 
of Hamilcar and Hasdrubal could not fail to attract the notice 
of the Romans ; they did not understand the objects of the 
Phoenician generals, but, as it dawned on them that Spain might 
possibly be a battle-ground in the future, they concluded a treaty, 
by which the river Iberus (Ebro) was fixed as the northern 
boundary of the Carthaginian empire in Spain (228 B.C.). 

Hasdrubal was assassinated in 221 B.C. by a slave whose 
master he had put to death. Hannibal had now acquired such 
a remarkable ascendency over the army, that the soldiers unani- 
mously proclaimed him commander-in-chief, and the government 
at Carthage hastened to ratify an appointment which they had 
not, in fact, the power to prevent. There can be no doubt that 
he already looked forward to the invasion and conquest of Italy 
as the goal of his ambition ; but it was necessary for him first to 
complete the work which had been so ably begun by his two 
predecessors, and to establish the Carthaginian power as firmly 
as possible in Spain. This he accomplished in two campaigns, 
in the course of which he brought all the nations south of the 
Iberus into subjection to Carthage. His army was now in the 
highest degree of efficiency, and he felt that the time had come 
for the final move. All that was lacking was a pretext for war, 
and this he soon created. 

Early in the spring of 219 B.C. he proceeded to lay siege to 
Saguntum, a city of Greek origin founded by the Zacynthians. 
Though situated to the south of the Iberus, and 
therefore not included under the Roman protec- ^*^^^°*1 
torate established by the treaty with Hasdrubal, Saeuntnm. 
Saguntum had concluded an alliance with Rome. 
The excuse for this aggression was the same of which the 
Romans so often availed themselves — some injury inflicted by 
the Saguntines upon one of the neighbouring tribes under the 
protection of Carthage. The resistance of the city was long and 
desperate, and it was not till after a siege of nearly eight months 
that he made himself master of the place. 

During all this period the Romans sent no assistance to their 

ire 



100 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



[Chap. XI. 



allies. They had, indeed, as soon as they heard of the siege, 
despatched ambassadors to Hannibal, but he referred them 

for an answer to the government at home, and 
War declared ^^^y. co^jfj obtain no satisfaction from the Cartha- 
thase. ginians, in whose councils the war party had now 

a decided predominance. A second embassy was 
sent, after the fall of Sa.i^untum, to demand the surrender of 
Hannibal, in atonement for the breach of the treaty. After 
much discussion, Q. Fabius, one of the Eoman ambassadors, 
holding up a fold of his toga, said, " I carry here peace and 
war ; choose ye which ye will." " Give us which you will," 
was the reply. " Then take war," said Fabius, letting fall his 
toga. And the senators of Carthage cried, " We accept the gift." 




Coin of Hiero. 



.rJ 



> 



,\ 



4 





JG A 



I A\ 





rfW/^ 


m 


p":-' 







Mis SI a^ 



iiesH? 






MAP or ^i 

ITALY SPAIN & AFRICA 

AFTER 1^ PUBIC WAR 

ALSO 

SHDWmG HAimiBAiS MARCH 

B^EUnoan. Possessions 
Cartha^miaiL ,y 
-IBiannibals march. 




lA 'IE 



Harper & Brotheri 




t'ork & Londo 



Jolni.£ani.olomew& Co.,XaiaT 




Lake Trasimenus. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE SECOND PTJJTTC WAR : FIRST PERIOD, DOWN TO THE BATTLE 
OF CANNAE. 218-216 B.C. 



In the Second Punic War we have no longer a distant contest 
between Carthaginians and Romans fought out on neutral 
ground ; it is the struggle of Italy against the Hannibal's 
individual genius of a foreign invader. The posi- preparations 
tion of Hannibal was indeed very peculiar. His for invading 
command in Spain, and the powerful army there, ^^^^7- 
which was entirely at his own disposal, rendered him in great 
measure independent of the government at Carthage, and the 
latter seemed disposed to devolve all responsibility upon him. 
Even now they did little themselves to prepare for the impend- 
ing contest. All was left to Hannibal, who, after the conquest 



102 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. Xll. 

of Saguntum, had returned once more to New Carthage for the 
winter, and was there actively engaged in preparations for 
carrying the war into the enemy's country. At the same time, 
he did not neglect to provide for the defence of Spain and Africa 
during his absence. In the former country he placed his brother 
Hasdrubal, with a considerable army, great part of which was 
composed of Africans, while he sent over a large body of Spanish 
troops to contribute to the defence of Africa, and even of Car- 
thage itself. 

All his preparations being now completed, Hannibal quitted 
his winter quarters at New Carthage in the spring of 218 B.C., 
and crossed the Iberus with an army of 90,000 foot and 12,000 
horse. The tribes between that river and the Pyrenees offered 
at first a vigorous resistance, and, though they were quickly 
subdued, Hannibal thought it necessary to leave behind him 
a force of 11,000 men under Hanno to maintain this newly 
acquired province. His forces were further thinned by desertion 
during the passage of the Pyrenees, which obliged him to send 
home a large body of his Spanish troops. With a greatly 
diminished army, but one on which he could securely rely, he 
now continued bis march from the foot of the Pj'^renees to the 
Ehone without meeting with any opposition ; for the Gallic 
tribes through which he passed were favourably disposed to him, 
or had been previously gained over by his emissaries. 

The Consul P. Cornelius Scipio had been ordered to proceed 
to Spain, but various causes had detained him in Italy, and 
upon landing at Massilia (Marseilles) he found 
Hannibal ^}^^(. Hannibal was already advancing towards 

Rhone^ ® the Rhone. Meantime the Carthaginian general 
effected his passage across the river, notwith- 
standing the opposition of the Gauls ; and when Scipio marched 
up the left bank of the river, he found that Hannibal had ad- 
vanced into the interior of Gaul, and was already three days in 
advance of him. Despairing, therefore, of overtaking Hannibal, 
he determined to sail back to Italy and await him in Cisalpine 
Gaul. But as the Republic had already an army in that pro- 
vince, he sent the greater part of his own forces into Spain 
under the command of his brother Cn. Scipio. This prudent 
step probably saved Rome ; for if the Carthaginians had main- 
tained the undisputed mastery of Spain, they might have 



Chap. XII.] HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 103 

concentrated all their efforts to support Hannibal in Italj'^, and 
have sent him such strong reinforcements after the battle of 
Cannae as would have compelled Rome to submit. 

Hannibal, after crossing the Ehone, continued his march up 
the left bank of the river as far as its confluence with the Isere. 
Here he interposed in a dispute between two rival 
chiefs of the Allobroges, and, by lending his aid . the^AiM^ 
to establish one of them firmly on the throne, 
secured the co-operation of an efficient ally, who greatly facili- 
tated his farther progress. But in his passage across the Alps 
he was attacked by the barbarians, and as he struggled through 
the narrow and dangerous defiles the enemy destro\'ed numbers 
of his men. It was some days before he reached the summit of 
the pass. Thenceforth he suffered but little from hostile attacks, 
but the descent was difficult and dangerous. The natural diflB- 
culties of the road, enhanced by the lateness of the season (the 
beginning of September, at which time the snows had already 
commenced in the high Alps), caused him almost as much loss 
as the opposition of the barbarians on the other side of the 
mountains. So heavy were his losses from these combined 
causes that, when he at length emerged from the valley of Aosta 
into the plains of the Po, and encamped in the friendly country 
of the Insubres, he had with him no more than 20,000 foot and 
6000 horse.* There were no Roman legions near to attack his 
thinned and exhausted troops ; the blunder which had permitted 
the passage of the Alps left the frontier of Italy undefended. 

Hannibal's first care was now to recruit the strength of his 
army, worn out as it was by the hardships and fatigues it had 
undergone. After a short interval of repose, he 
turned his arms against the Taurini (a tribe battles of the 
bordering on, and hostile to, the Insubres), whom XreMa^ *^ 
he quickly reduced, and took their principal city 
(Turin). The news of the approach of P. Scipio next obliged 
him to turn his attention towards a more formidable enemy. 
In the first action, which took place in the plains westward of 
the Ticinus, the cavalry and light-armed troops of the two 
armies were alone engaged ; and the superiority of Hannibal's 

* The pass of the Alps which HaDnibal crossed was probably the Graian Alps, 
or Little St. Bernard. See note " On the Passage of Hannibal across the Alps," 
»t the end of this chapter. 



104 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XII. 

Numidian horse at once decided the combat in his favour. The 
Komans were completely routed, and Scipio himself severely 
wounded; in consequence of which he hastened to retreat 
beyond the Ticinus and the Po, under the walb of Placentia. 
Hannibal crossed the Po higher np, and, advancinc' *^o Placentia, 
offered battle to Scipio ; but the latter declined the combat, and 
withdrew to the hills on the left bank of the Treliia. Here he 
was soon after joined by the other consul, Ti. Sempronius 
Longiis, who had hastened from Ariminum to his support : their 
combined armies were greatly superior to that of the Cartha- 
ginians, and Sempronius, whose year of office was expiring, was 
eager to bring on a general battle, of which Hannibal, on his 
side, was not less desirous, notwithstanding the great inferiority 
of his force. The result was decisive : the Eoraans were com- 
pletely defeated, with heavy loss; and the remains of their 
shattered army, together with the two consuls, took refuge 
within the walls of Placentia. The battles of the Ticinus and 
Trebia had been fought in December, and the winter had already 
begun with unusual severity, so that Hannibal's troops suffered 
severely from cold, and all his elephants perished except one. 
But his victory had caused all the wavering tribes of the Gauls 
to declare in his favour, and he was now able to take up his 
winter quarters in security, and to levy fresh troops among the 
Gauls, while he awaited the approach of spring. 

As soon as the season permitted the renewal of military opera- 
tions (217 B.C.), Hannibal entered the country of the Ligurian 
tribes, who had lately declared in his favour, and 
Hannibal descended by the valley of the Macra into the 

A^?nnines marshes on the banks of the Arno. He had 
apparently chosen this route in order to avoid 
the Roman armies, which guarded the more obvious passes of 
the Apennines; but the hardships and difficulties which he 
encountered in struggling through the marshes were immense ; 
great numbers of his horses and beasts of burthen perished, and 
he himself lost the sight of one eye by a violent attack of 
ophthalmia. At length, however, he reached Faesulae in safety, 
and was able to allow his troops a short interval of repose. 

The consuls for this year were On. Servihus and C. Flarainius. 
The latter was the author of the celebrated Agrarian Law which 
Qcpasioned the Galhc War, and in his first consulship he had 



Chap. XII.] BATTLE OF LAKE TKASIMEAE. 105 

gained a great victory over the Insubrian Gauls (see p. 97). 
He had been raised to his second consulship by popular favour, 
in spite of the opposition of the senate ; and he hurried from 
Rome before the Ides of March,* lest the senate might throw 
any obstacle in the way of his entering upon his consulship. 
He was a man of great energy, but headstrong and reckless. 
When Hannibal arrived at Faesulao, Flaminius was with his 
army at Arretium. 

It was always the object of Hannibal to bring the Roman 
commanders to a battle after himseli' choosing the ground, and 
therefore, in moving from Faesulae, he passed 
by the Roman general, and advanced towards ^^ttle of the 
Perusia, laying waste the fertile country on his i^ 
line of march. Flaminius immediately broke up 
bis camp, and, following the traces of Hannibal, fell into the 
snare whicb was prepared for him. He found himself in a 
narrow defile, both sides of which had been occupied by 
Hannibal's light troops ; the outlet was barred by Hannibal's 
infantry, and the entrance was closed by the Trasimene lake. 
The destruction of the imprisoned army was almost complete. 
Thousands fell by the sword, among whom was the consul him- 
self; thousands more perished in the lake, and no less than 
15,000 prisoners fell into the hands of Hannibal, who on his side 
is said to have lost only 1500 men. Hannibal's treatment of 
the captives on this occasion, as well as after the battle of the 
Trebia, was marked by the same policy on which he afterwards 
uniformly acted: the Roman citizens alone were retained as 
prisoners, while their Italian allies were dismissed without 
ransom to their respective homes. By this means he hoped to 
excite the nations of Italy against their Roman masters, and to 
place himself in the position of the leader of a national move- 
ment rather than that of a foreign invader. It was in order to 
give time for this feeling to display itself that he did not, after 
the conquest of Etruria, push on towards Rome itself; but, after 
an unsuccessful attempt upon the Roman colony of Spoletium, 
he turned aside through the Apennines into Picenum, and thence 
into the northern part of Apulia. Here he spent a great part of 
the summer, and was able effectually to refresh his troops, who 

* At this time the consuls entered upon their office on the Ides of March. It 
was not till 153 B.C. that the consulship comnjenced on the lialends of January. 



106 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XII. 

had suffered much from the hardships of their previous marches. 
But no symptoms appeared of the insurrections he had looked 
for; the Italians, who might have joined a Western leader, could 
not be brought to look on a Phoenician chief as their deliverer. 

Meantime the Eomans had collected a fresh army, which they 

placed under the command of Q. Fabius Maximus, who had, in 

consequence of the absence of the consuls from 

icy Eome, been elected dictator by the Comitia of the 

Centuries. Fabius formed a different plan for the 

campaign. He determined to keep the heights, and not to risk 

a battle, but at the same time to watch the Carthaginian army, 

cut off its supplies, and harass and annoy it in every possible 

way. From pursuing this policy he received the surname of 

Cu7ictator, or the Lingerer. 

Hannibal now recrossed the Apennines, descended into the 
rich plains of Campania, and laid waste, without opposition, that 
fertile territory. But he was unable either to make himself 
master of any of the towns, or to draw the wary Fabius to a 
battle. The Koman general contented himself with occupying 
the mountain-passes leading from Samnium into Campania, by 
which Hannibal must of necessity retreat, and believed that he 
had caught him as it were in a trap ; but Hannibal eluded his 
vigilance by an ingenious stratagem. He had faggots tied to 
the horns of 2000 oxen, which were amongst the booty: and 
when night was closing in, he had the faggots lit, and made his 
light-armed troops drive the cattle straight up the mountain 
slopes in the direction of the Roman ambush. The garrison, 
astonished at what they believed to be a night attack by torch- 
light from an unexpected quarter, hastily retreated, and Hannibal 
rapidty mounted the pass with his whole forces, passed the defiles 
of the Apennines without loss, and established himself in the 
plains of Apulia, where he collected supplies from all sides, in 
order to prepare for the winter. 

Meantime the popular party at Rome, impatient at the in- 
activity of Fabius, had raised Minucius, the Master of the Horse, 
to an equality in command. The rashness with 
Discontent of -^hich he sought to justify the popular choice 
partjSome. ^^^^ ^^^^^^ S^'^® Hannibal the opportunity, for 
which he was ever on the watch, to crush the 
Boman army by a decisive blow. One of his ambushes had 



Chap. Xll.] BATTLE OP CAKNAE. iOl 

taken the troops of Minucius by surprise, and the Roman army 
was being shut in on every side, when Fabius suddenly appeared 
upon the scene. Tho Pliocnician forces retired before the com- 
bined armies, and took up their winter quarters at Geronium. 
Minucius acknowledged his error, and resumed his post of Master 
of the Horse. 

During the winter the Romans made preparations for bringing 
an unusually large force into the field. The people thought that 
it needed only a man of energy and decision at the head of an 
overwhelming force to bring the war to a close. They therefore 
raised to the consulship C. Terentius Varro, said to have been 
the son of a butcher, who had been for some time regarded as 
the champion of the popular party. The senate regarded this 
election with dismay, as Varro possessed no military experience; 
and thej' therefore persuaded the people to appoint as his 
colleague L. Aemilius Paullus, who had distinguished himself 
by the way in which he had conducted the Illyrian War during 
his consulship. 

Hannibal remained at Geronium until late in the spring (216 
B.C.), when, compelled to move by the want of provisions, he 
surprised the Roman magazines at Cannae, a small 
town of Apulia, and established his head-quarters „^ ^ ° 
there until the harvest could be got in. Mean- 
while the two Roman consuls arrived at the head of an army of 
80,000 infantry and 6000 cavalry. Hannibal's infantry was but 
half the number of the Roman, but his cavalry numbered 10,000. 
He offered battle on the left, and, when this was declined, on the 
right bank of the Aufidus, in a wide plain eminently suited to 
the evolutions of cavalry. It was the cavalry that decided the 
day ; the immense army of the Romans was not only defeated, 
but annihilated ; and between 40,000 and 50,000 men are said 
to have fallen in the field, among whom was the Consul Aemilius 
Paullus, both the consuls of the preceding years, the late Master 
of the Horse, Minucius, above eighty senators, and a multitude 
of the knights who composed the Roman cavalry and mounted 
oflicers. The other consul, Varro, escaped with a few horsemen 
to Venusia, and a small band of resolute men forced their way 
from the Roman camp through the enemy's army to Canusium ; 
all the rest were killed, dispersed, or taken prisoners. Hannibal 
has been generally blamed for not following up his advantage at 



108 



HlSTOJ^y OP ROME. 



[Chap. XII. 



once, after so decisive a victory, by an immediate advance upon 
Rome itself — a measure which was strongly urged upon him by 
Maharbal. " Only send me on with the cavalry," said this 
officer, " and within five days thou shalt sup in the Capitol." 
But his army was not skilled in siege operations, he had no 
means of investing the city, and an immediate attack on Rome 
might have involved a repulse which would have dimmed the 
glory of his recent victory. 

He waited in Apulia to see the effect on Italy ; and now the 
allies began to waver. The Hirpinians, all the Samnites (except 

the Peiitrian tribe), and almost all the Apulians, 
Derection of Lucanians, and Bruttians, declared in favour of 
allies Carthage. The whole of the south of Italy seemed 

lost to the Romans, but the effect of these defec- 
tions was not so decisive as might at first appear ; for the Latin 
colonies, which still, without exception, lemained faithful, gave 
the Romans a powerful hold upon the revolted districts ; and 
the Greek cities on the coast, though mostly disposed to join 
the Carthaginians, were restrained by the presence of Roman 
garrisons. Hence it became necessary to support the insurrec- 
tion in the different parts of Italy with a Carthaginian force. 

Hannibal marched first into Samnium, and from thence into 
Campania, where he obtained possession of the important city 

of Capua, the gates of which were opened to him 

by the popular party. Here he established his 
army in winter quarters. Thus ends the first period of the war, 
in which Hannibal had met with uninterrupted success. Three 
great victories in three years, followed by the revolt of a city 
scarcely inferior to Rome itself in importance, seemed to promise 
a speedy termination of the war. 



Loss of Capua. 



NOTE ON HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE ACROSS THE ALPS. 



(See p. 103.) 



The narrative in the text is taken 
from that of the Greek historian Poly- 
blus, which is certainly by far the most 
trustworthy that has descended to us : 
but that author has nowhere clearly 
stated by which of the passes across 
the Alps Hannibal effected his mnrch ; 
and this question has given rise to 



much controversy both in ancient and 
modern times. Into this discussion our 
limits will not allow us to enter, but 
the following mav be briefly stated as 
the general results: — 1. That after a 
careful examination of the text of Poly- 
bius, and comparison of the different 
localities, his narrative will be foimd 



Chap. XII] HANNIBAL'S EOUTE OVER THE ALPS. 



109 



on the whole to agree best with the sup- 
position that Hannibal crossed the Uraian 
Alps ( Little St. Bei nird) by a pass which 
led into the territory of the Salassi and 
Insubres. 2. That Caelius Antipater 
certainly represented him as taking this 
route (Liv. xxi. 38) ; and as he is known 
to have followed the Greek history of 
Silenus, who is said to have accompanied 
Hannibil in many of his campaigns, his 
authority is of the greatest weight. 3. 
That Livy and Strabo, on the contrary, 
both suppose him to have crossed the 
Cottian Alps {Mont Genevre) by a pass 
which led into the territory of the 
Taurini. But the main argument that 
appears to have weighed with Livy, as it 
has done with several modern writers on 
the subject, is the assumption that Han- 
nibal descended in the first inst-ance into 
the country of the Taurini, which is 
opposed to the direct testimony of Poly- 
bius, who says expressly that he de- 
scended among the Insubres, and 
subsequently mentions his attack on 
the Taurini. 4. That, as according to 
Livy himself (xxi. 29) the Gallic emis- 
saries who acted as Hannibal's guides 
were Boii, it was natural that these 
should conduct him by the passage 



I that led directly into the territory ol 
their allies and brothers-in-arms the 
Insubres, rather than into that of the 
Taurini, a Ligurian tribe, who were at 
this very time in a state of hostility 
with the Insubres. And this remark 
will serve to explain why Hannibal 
chose apparently a longer route, instead 
of the more direct one of Mont Genevre. 
Lastly, it is remarkable that Polybius, 
though he censures the exaggerations 
and absurdities with which earlier 
writers had encumbered their narrative, 
does not intimate that any doubt was 
entertained as to the line of march ; 
and Pompey, in a letter to the senate, 
written in b.c. 73, alludes to the route 
of Hannibal across the Alps as some- 
thing well known. Hence it appears 
clear that the passage by which he 
crossed them must have been one of 
those frequented in subsequent times 
by the Romans. This argument seems 
decisive against the claims of a third 
possible route, that by the Mont Cenis, 
which have been advocated by some 
modern writers, that pass having appa- 
rently never been used till the Middle 
Ages. — See Diet, of Greek and Kmiian 
Biography, vol. ii. pp. 334, 535. 




Capua. 



CHAPTEK XIII. 

SECOND PUNIC WAR : SECOND PERIOD, FROM THE REVOLT OF CAPUA 
TO THE BATTLE OF THE METAURUS. 215-207 B.C. 

Capua was celebrated for its wealth and luxury; and the ener- 
vating effect which these produced upon the army of Hannibal 
became a favourite theme of rhetorical exaggera- 
Caoua ^^'^^ ^^ ^^^^'^ ages. The futility of such declama- 

tions is sufficiently shown by the simple fact that 
the superiority of that army in the field remained as decided as 
ever. Still it may be truly said that the winter spent at Capua 
(216-215 B.C.) was in great measure the turning-point of 
Hannibal's fortune, and from this time the war assumed an 
altered character. The experiment of what he could effect with 
bis single army had now been fully tried, and, notwithstanding 
all his victories, it had decidedly failed ; for Rome was still 
unsubdued, and still provided with the means of maintaining a 



Chap. Xin.] SECOND PUNIC WAR; SECOND PERIOD. Ill 

protracted contest. But Hannibal had not relied on his own 
forces alone, and he now found himself, apparently at least, in 
a condition to commence the execution of his long-cherished 
plan — that of arming Italy itself against the Romans, and crush- 
ing the ruling power by means of her own subjects. It was to 
this object that his attention was henceforth mainly directed. 

From this time, also, the Romans changed their plan of 
operations; and, instead of opposing to Hannibal one gi"eat army 
in the field, thej" hemmed in his movements on 
all sides, guarded all the most important towns j>°^J 
with strong garrisons, and kept up armies all over 
Italy to thwart the operations of his lieutenants and check the 
rising disposition to revolt. It is impossible here to follow in 
detail the complicated operations of the subsequent campaigns, 
during which Hannibal himself frequently traversed Italy in all 
directions, appearing suddenly wherever his presence was called 
for, and astonishing and often baffling the enemy by the rapidity 
of his marches. All that we can do is to notice very briefly the- 
leading events which distinguished each successive campaign. 

The campaign of 215 B.C. was not marked by any decisive 
events. The consuls were Q. P^abius Maximus (whose plan of 
conducting the war had been fully vindicated by the terrible 
defeat of Cannae) and Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus. With 
the advance of spring Hannibal took up his camp on Mount 
Tifata, where, while awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from 
Carthage, he was at hand to support his partisans in Campania 
and oppose the Roman generals in that province. But his 
attempts on Cumae and Neapolis were foiled ; and even after 
he had been joined by a force from Carthage (very inferior, 
however, to what he had expected) he sustained a repulse before 
Nola, which was magnified by the Romans into a defeat. As 
the winter approached he withdrew into Apulia, and took up 
his quarters in the plains around Arpi. 

But other prospects were already opening before him. In his 
camp on Tifata he had received embassies from Philip king of 
Macedon and Hieronymus of Syracuse, both of Macedon and 
which he had eagerly welcomed, and thus sowed Syracuse ne- 
the seeds of two fresh wars, and raised up two gotiate with 
formidable enemies against the Iloman power. Hannibal. 

These two collateral wars in some degree drew off the 



112 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XIIL 

attention of both parties from that in Italy itself; yet the Romans 
still opposed to the Carthaginian general a chain of armies which 
fettered all his operations ; and though Hannibal was ever on 
the watch for the opportunity of striking a blow, the campaign 
of 214 B.C. was still less decisive than that of the preceding 
year. Fabius was again elected consul, and Marcellus was 
appointed his colleague. Early in the summer Hannibal 
advanced from Apulia to his former station on Mount Tifata 
to watch over the safety of Capua; from thence he had descended 
to the Lake Avernus, in hopes of making himself master of 
Puteoli, when a prospect was held out to him of surprising the 
important city of Tarentum. Thither he hastened by forced 
marches, but arrived too late ; Tarentum had been secured by 
a Roman force. After this his operations were of little impor- 
tance, until he again took up his winter quarters in Apulia. 

During the following summer (213 B.C.), while all eyes were 
turned towards the war in Sicily, Hannibal remained almost 
wholly inactive in the neighbourhood of Taren- 
Tarentum ^-y,^^ g^jn cherishing hopes of making himself 

H ^^ibal ^ master of that important city. Before the close 
of the ensuing winter he was rewarded with the 
long-looked -for prize, and Tarentum was betrayed into his hands 
by two of its citizens. The advantage, however, was incomplete, 
for a Roman garrison still held possession of the citadel, from 
which he was unable to dislodge them. The next year (212 B.C.) 
was marked by important events in Sicily and Spain, to which 
we must now direct our attention. 

Hiero, so long the faithful ally of Rome, died shortly after the 
battle of Cannae (216 B.C.), and was succeeded by his grandson 
Hieronymus, a vain youth, who abandoned the 
^* alliance of Rome for that of Carthage. But he 

was assassinated after a reign of fifteen months, and a republican 
form of government was established in Syracuse. A contest 
ensued between the Roman and Carthaginian parties in the city, 
but the former ultimately prevailed, and Epicydes and Hippo- 
crates, two brothers, whom Hannibal had sent as his agents to 
Syracuse, had to quit the town, and took refuge at Leontini. 
Such was the state of affairs when the Consul Marcellus arrived 
in Sicily (214 B.C.). He forthwith marched against Leontini, 
which Epicydes and Hippocrates defended with a considerable 



Chap. XIII.] SIEGE OF SYRACUSE. 113 

force. He took the city by storm ; and, though he spared 
the inhabitants, executed in cold blood 2000 Eoraan deserters 
whom he found among the troops that had formed the garri- 
son. This sanguinary act at once alienated the minds of tlie 
Sicilians, and alarmed the mercenary troops in the service 
of Syracuse. 

The latter immediately joined Hippocrates and Epicydes, who 
had made their escape ; the gates of Syracuse were opened to 
them by their partisans within the walls, and the 
party hostile to Rome was thus established in the Defection of 
undisputed command of that city. Marcellus now jjomg 
appeared before Syracuse at the head of his army, 
and, after a fruitless summons to the inhabitants, proceeded to 
lay siege to the city both by sea and land. His attacks were 
vigorous and unremitting, and were directed especially against 
the quarter of Achradina from the side of the sea ; but, though 
he brought many powerful military engines against the walls, 
these were rendered wholly unavailing by the superior skill and 
science of Archimedes, which were employed on the side of the 
besieged. 

All the efforts of the assailants were baffled ; and the Roman 
soldiers were inspired with so great a dread of Archimedes and 
his engines,* that Marcellus was compelled to give 
up all hopes of carrying the city by open force, ^^^S^ ^^^ 
and to turn the siege into a blockade. The siege Syracuse 
was prolonged far on into the summer of 212 B.C., 
nor did there appear any prospect of its termination, as the 
communications of the besieged by sea were almost entirely 
open. In this state of things Marcellus fortunately discovered 
a part of the walls more accessible than the rest ; and, having 
prepared scaling-ladders, effected an entrance at this point 
during the night which followed a great festival, and thus made 
himself master of Epipolai. The two quarters called Tycha ai\d 
Neapolis were now at his mercy, and were given up to plunder ; 
but Epicydes still held the main city, composed of the island- citadel 
and Achradina, which formed two separate and strong fortresses, 
Marcellus, however, made himself master of the fort of Euryehis, 

* The Btory that Archimedes set the Roman ships on Are by the reflected rays 
of the sun is probably a fiction ; though later writers give an account of this 
burning mirror. 

I 



114 HlbTOR^ OP ROME. [Chap. XIII. 

and had closely invested Achradina, when the Carthaginian army 
under Himilco and Hippocrates advanced to the relief of the 
city. Their efforts were, however, in vain ; all their attacks on 
the camp of Marcellus were repulsed, and they were unable to 
effect a junction with Epicydes and the Syracusan garrison. 
The swamps that had so often saved Syracuse gave rise to a 
pestilence which carried off" both the generals of the Carthaginian 
army, and led to the entire break-up of their forces. Shortly 
afterwards the treachery of a leader of Spanish mercenaries in 
the Syracusan service gave Marcellus the possession of the 
island, and the citizens immediately threw open the gates of 
Achradina. The city was given up to plunder, and Archimedes 
was slain by a Roman soldier, being so intent upon a mathe- 
matical problem at the time that he did not answer a question 
that was asked him. He was deeply regretted by Marcellus, 
who gave orders for his burial, and befriended his surviving 
relatives.* 

The booty found in the captured city was immense : besides 
the money in the royal treasury, which was set apart for the 
coffers of the state, Marcellus carried off" many of the works of 
art with which the city had been adorned, to grace his own 
triumph and the temples at Eome. This was the first instance 
of that practice of violent art-collecting which afterwards became 
so general ; and it gave great offence not only to the Greeks of 
Sicily, but to a large party at Rome itself. 

The fall of Syracuse was followed, though not immediately, 
by the subjugation of the whole island by the Romans; but 
. . these successes were counterbalanced by the 

in Snain defeat and death of the two Scipios in Spain. 

We have already seen that P. Scipio, when he 
landed at Massilia and found himself unable to overtake Hannibal 
in Gaul, sent his brother Cneius with the army into Spain, while 
he himself returned to Italy. In the following year (217 B.C.) 
Publius himself crossed over into Spain, where he found that 
his brother had already obtained a firm footing. They continued 
in Spain for several years, during which they gained many 
victories and prevented Hasdrubal from marching into Italy to 

* TJpon his tomb was placed the figure of a sphere inscribed in a cylinder. 
When Cicero was quaestor in Sicily (75 B.C.), he found his tomb near one of the 
gates of the city, almost hid among briars, and forgotten by the Syracusans. 



Chap, XIII.] THE WAR IN SPAIN AND ITALY. 



115 



support his victorious brother. When Hasdrubal was recalled 
to Africa to oppose Syphax, one of the Numidian kings, whom 
Rome had stirred up to war against Carthage, the Scipios availed 
themselves of his absence to extend their power. They gained 




Earlier Walls 

Wall of Dionyslus 

English Miles § ^i 



Wan ot Syracuse. 



over new tribes to the Eoman cause, took 20,000 Celtiberians 
into their pay, and felt themselves so strong in 212 B.C. that 
they resolved to cross the Iberus and to make a vigorous effort 
to drive the Carthaginians out of Spain. 



116 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XIII. 

They accordingly divided theii' forces ; but the result was 

fatal. Publius was destroyed, with the greater part of his troops ; 

. and Cneius was also defeated, and fell in battle, 

and death twenty-nine days after the death of his brother. 

These victories seemed to establish the superiority 
of Carthage in Spain, and open the way for Hasdrubal to join 
his brother in Italy. 

Here the two consuls Appius Claudius and Q. Fulvius began 
to draw together their forces for the purpose of besieging Capua 

(212 B.C.). Hannibal advanced to reheve it, and 
beslea-e'c^^^ compelled the consuls to withdraw ; but he was 

unable to force either of them to fight. Shortly 
afterwards he returned again to the south to urge on the siege 
of the citadel of Tarentum, which still held out ; and he spent 
the winter and the whole of the ensuing spring (211 B.C.) in its 
immediate neighbourhood. But during his absence the consuls 
had renewed the siege of Capua, and prosecuted it with such 
activity, that the}' had succeeded in surrounding the city with 
a double line of entrenchments. The pressing danger once more 
summoned Hannibal to its relief. He accordingly presented 
himself before the Roman camp, and attacked their lines from 
without, while the garrison co-operated with him by a vigorous 
sally from the walls. 

Both attacks were, however, repulsed, and Hannibal, foiled in 
his attempt to raise the siege by direct means, determined on 

the manoeuvre of marching directly upon Rome 
Hanmbal itself, in hopes of thus compelling the consuls t6 

T> abandon their designs upon Capua, in order to 

provide for the defence of the city. But this 
scheme failed in its effect ; the appearance of Hannibal before 
the gates of Rome for a moment struck terror through the city ; 
but a considerable body of troops was at the time within the 
walls ; and the Consul Fulvius, as soon as he heard of Hannibal's 
march, hastened, with a portion of the besieging army, from 
Capua, while he still left with the other consul a force amply 
sufficient to carry on the siege. Hannibal was thus disappointed 
in the main object of his advance, and he had no means of 
effecting anything against Rome itself, where Fulvius and Fabius 
confined themselves strictly to the defensive, allowing him to 
ravage the whole country without opposition, up to the very walls. 



Chap. XIII.] RECOVERY OF CAPUA AND TARENTUM. 117 

Nothing therefore remained for him but to retreat, and he 
accordingly recrossed the Anio, and marched slowly and sullenly 
through the land of the Sabines and Samnites. 
From thence he retired to the Bruttii, leaving Capua 
Capua to its fate. The city soon after surrendered jj^ Rome 
to the Romans. Its punishment was terrible. All 
the leaders of the insurrection w^ere beheaded ; the chief men 
were imprisoned; and the rest of the people were sold. The 
city became a village, its territory part of the Roman domain. 

The commencement of the next season (210 B.C.) was marked 
by the fall of Salapia, which was betrayed by the inhabitants to 
Marcellus ; but this loss was soon avenged by the total defeat 
and destruction of the army of the Proconsul Cn. Fulvius at 
Herdoniae. The Consul Marcellus, on his part, carefully avoided 
an action for the rest of the campaign, while he harassed his 
opponent by every possible means. Thus the rest of that 
summer too wore away without any important results. But this 
state of comparative inactivity was necessarily injurious to the 
cause of Hannibal ; the nations of Italy that had espoused that 
cause when triumphant now began to waver in their attachment; 
and in the course of the following summer (209 B.C.) the 
Samnites and Lucanians submitted to Rome, and were admitted 
to favourable terms. 

A still more disastrous blow to the Carthaginian cause was the 
loss of Tarentum, which was betrayed into the hands of Fabius, 
as it had been into those of Hannibal. In vain 
did the latter seek to draw the Roman general Tarentum 
into a snare: the wary Fabius eluded his toils. 
The recovery of Tarentum was the last exploit in the military 
life of the aged general. From the time of the battle of Cannae 
he had directed almost exclusively the councils of his country, 
and his policy had been pre-eminently successful ; but the times 
now demanded bolder measures, and something else was neces- 
sary than the caution of the Lingerer to bring the war to a close. 

After the fall of Tarentum, Hannibal still traversed the open 
country unopposed, and laid waste the territories of his enemies. 
Yet we cannot suppose that he any longer looked for ultimate 
success from any efforts of his own : his object was doubtless 
now only to maintain his ground in the south until his brother 
Hasdrubal should appear in the north of Italy, an event to 



US HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XIII. 

which he had long anxiously looked forward. Yet the following 
summer (208 B.C.) was marked by some brilliant achievements. 
The two consuls, Crispinus and Marcellus, who were opposed to 
Hannibal in Lucania, allowed themselves to be led into an 
ambush, in which Marcellus was killed, and Crispinus mortally 
wounded. Marcellus was one of the ablest of the Koman 
generals. Hannibal displayed a generous sympathy for his fate, 
and caused due honours to be paid to his remains. 

The following year (207 B.C.) decided the issue of the war in 
Italy. The war in Spain during the last few years had been 
carried on with brilliant success by the young P. 
Hasdru1}al Scipio, of whose exploits we shall speak presently. 
Italy -^"^ ^^ ^^^ ^•^■' Hasdrubal, leaving his colleagues 

to make head against Scipio, resolved to join his 
brother in Italy. As Scipio was in undisputed possession of the 
provmce north of the Iberus, and had secured the passes of the 
Pyrenees on that side, Hasdrubal crossed these mountains near 
their western extremity, and plunged into the heart of Gaul. 
After spending a winter in that country, he prepared to cross 
the Alps in the spring of 207 B.C., and to descend into Italy. 
The two consuls for this year were C. Claudius Nero and M. 
Livins. Nero was in Southern Italy, keeping a watch upon 
Hannibal ; Livius took up his quarters at Ariminum to oppose 
Hasdrubal. The latter experienced little loss or difficulty in 
crossing the Alps. The season of the year was favourable, and 
the Gauls were friendly to his cause. But instead of pushing 
on at once into the heart of Italy, he allowed himself to be 
engaged in the siege of Placentia, and lost much precious time 
in fruitless efforts to reduce that colony. When at length he 
abandoned the enterprise, he sent messengers to Hannibal to 
apprise him of his movements, and concert measures for their 
meeting in Umbria. But his despatches fell into the hands of 
the Consul Nero, who formed the bold design of instantly march- 
ing with a picked body of 7000 men to join his colleague, and 
fall upon Hasdrubal with their united forces before Hannibal 
could receive any tidings of his brother's movements. 

The consul's march was rapid and silent. Hannibal knew 
nothing of his departure, and in a week Nero covered the 250 
miles to Sena, where his colleague was encamped in presence of 
Hasdrubal. He entered the camp of Livius in the night, that 



Chap. XIII.] BATTLE OF THE METAURUS. 119 

his arrival might not be known to the Carthaginians. After 
a day's rest the two consuls proceeded to offer battle; but 
Hasdrubal, perceiving the augmented numbers of 
the Eomans, and hearing the trumpet sound J^^ction of 
twice, felt convinced that the consuls had united ,,__,;„_ 
their forces, and that his brother had been 
defeated. He therefore declined the combat, and in the follow- 
ing night commenced his retreat towards Ariminum. 

The Romans pursued him, and he found himself compelled to 
give them battle on the right bank of the Metaurus. On this 
occasion Hasdrubal displayed all the qualities of a 
consummate general ; but his forces were gi'eatly Turetaurus * 
inferior to those of the enemy, and his Gallic 
auxiliaries were of little service. The gallant resistance of the 
Spanish and Ligurian troops is attested by the heavy loss of the 
Romans ; but all was of no avail, and seeing the battle irre- 
trievably lost, he rushed into the midst of the enemy, and fell, 
sword in hand, in a manner worthy of the son of Hamilcar and 
the brother of Hannibal. The Consul Nero hastened back to 
Apulia almost as speedily as he had come, and announced to 
Hannibal the defeat and death of his brother, by throwing into 
his camp the severed head of Hasdrubal. " I recognize," said 
Hannibal, sadly, " the doom of Carthage." 

The victory of the Metaurus was, as we have already said, deci- 
sive of the fate of the war in Italy ; and the conduct of Hannibal 
shows that he felt it to be such. From this time he abandoned 
all thoughts of offensive operations, and, withdrawing his garrisons 
from Metapontura and other towns that he still held in Lucania, 
collected together his forces within the peninsula of the Bruttii. 
In the fastnesses of that wild and mountainous region he main- 
tained his ground for nearly four years, while the towns that he 
still possessed on the coast gave him the command of the sea. 




Hannibal. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

SECOND PUNIC WAR : THIRD PERIOD : FROM THE BATTLE OF THE 
METAURUS TO THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAR. 206-201 B.C. 

After the battle of the Metaurus, Italy was no longer the chief 
battle-ground, and the main interest of the war was transferred 
to Spain and Africa. Its conduct is associated 
Scipio. ^j^j^ ^^g name of P. Scipio, one of those excep- 

tionally gifted men of whom Rome has so few to show, but 
whom fate seemed to reserve for her graver crises. The son of 
that P. Scipio who had fallen in Spain in 212 B.C., he had, even 
in his early years, acquired the confidence and admiration of his 
usually unenthusiastic countrymen. His devout Roman mind 
led him to believe that he was under the special protection of 
heaven ; for all he proposed or executed he alleged the divine 
approval ; and the extraordinary success which attended all his 
enterprises deepened in him this belief in his own destiny, and 
even imposed it on others. 

P. Scipio is first mentioned in 218 B.C. at the battle of the 
Ticlnus, where he is reported to have saved the life of his father, 
though he was then only seventeen years of age. He fought at 
Cannae two years afterwards (216 B.C.). when he was already a 
tribune of the soldiers, and was one of the few Roman officers 



Chap. XIV.J CAPTURE OF NEW CARTHAGE. 121 

who survived that fatal day. He was chosen, with Appius 
Claudius, to command the remains of the army, which had taken 
refuge at Canusium ; and it was owing to his youthful heroism 
and presence of mind that the Eoman nobles, who had thought 
of leaving Italy in despair, were prevented from carrying their 
rash project into effect. After the death of Scipio's father and 
uncle, C. Nero was sent out as propraetor to supply their place ; 
but shortly afterwards, the senate resolved to increase the army 
in Spain, and to place it under the command of a proconsul. 

The dangerous post was not eagerly sought ; and when Scipio, 
who was then barely twenty-four, presented himself as a candi- 
date, his boldness and merit were held sufficient 
to counterbalance the illegality of his claim. As ""^P^" *^ . 
he was not invested with any magistracy which gpj^jjj 
conferred the imperium, the new device was 
adopted of creating him Proconsul at the Comitia of the 
Centuries.* 

Scipio arrived in Spain in the summer of 210 B.C. He found 
that the three Carthaginian generals, Hasdrubal son of Barca, 
Hasdrubal son of Gisgo, and Mago, were not on 

good terms, and were at the time engaged in „*P ^ ^^i. 

, I ■ • J- 4. ^. , A\ NewCarthage. 

separate enterprises m distant parts or the pen- 
insula. Instead of attacking any of them singly, he formed the 
project of striking a deadly blow at the Carthaginian power by 
a sudden and unexpected attack upon New Carthage. He gave 
the command of the fleet to his intimate friend Laelius, to whom 
alone he entrusted the secret of the expedition, while he led the 
land-forces by extremely rapid marches against the city. The 
project was crowned with complete success. The Carthaginian 
garrison did not amount to more than a thousand men, and 
before any succour could arrive New Carthage was taken by 
assault. The hostages who had been given by the various 
Spanish tribes to the Carthaginians, had been placed for security 
in the city. These now fell into the hands of Scipio, who treated 
them with kindness ; and the hostages of those people who 
declared themselves in favour of the Romans were restored 
without ransom. Scipio also found in New Carthage magazines 
of arms, corn, and other necessaries ; for the Carthaginians had 
there deposited their principal stores. 

* A consul was usually, at this time, created proconsul by the senate. 



122 HISTORy OF ROME. [Chap. XIV. 

The immediate effects of this brilliant success were immense. 
Many of the Spanish tribes deserted the Carthaginian cause ; and 
Victories at when Scipio took the field in the following year 
Baecula, and (209 B.C.) Mandonius and Indibilis, two of the 
conquest of most powerful and hitherto the most faithful sup- 
Spaia. porters of Carthage, quitted the camp of Has- 

drubal Barca, and awaited the arrival of the Roman commander. 
Hasdrubal was encamped in a strong position near the town of 
Baecula, in the upper valley of the Baetis (Guadalquiver), where 
he was attacked and defeated by Scipio. But he succeeded in 
making good his retreat, and retired into Northern Spain. He 
subsequent^ crossed the P^Tenees, and, as we have already told, 
niarched into Italy to the assistance of his brother Hannibal. 
Scipio, in spite of his brilliant successes, had not fulfilled his 
direct mission ; he had initiated wonderful enterprises, but failed 
in defending Italy. His only plan now was to complete the 
conquest of Spain. This was practically effected in 206 B.C. by 
a second great battle at Baecula, in which a decisive victory was 
won over Hasdrubal son of Gisgo, and Mago. 

The Carthaginian generals took refuge within the walls of 
Gades, an old Phoenician settlement, which was almost the only 
place that now belonged to the Carthaginians ; and all the 
native chiefs hastened to acknowledge the supremacy of Rome. 
But Spain had not been won by arms alone. The Spanish 
tribes, always strangely susceptible to personal influence, had 
felt the magnetic attraction of Scipio's character. His courage 
and energy, his humanity and his courtesy, had won him their 
admiration, their obedience, and even their love. 

The subjugation of Spain was regarded by Scipio as only a 
means to an end. He had formed the project of correcting his 
great blunder by transferring the war to Africa, 
^^^***Af*-^°°^ and thus compelling the Carthaginians to recall 
chiefs Hannibal from Italy. He therefore resolved, 

before returning to Rome, to cross over into 
Africa, and secure, if possible, the friendship and co-operation of 
some of the native princes. His personal influence had already 
secured the attachment of Masinissa, the son of the king of the 
Massylians, or Western Numidians, who was serving in the 
Carthaginian army in Spain; and he trusted that the same 
personal ascendency might gain the more powerful support of 



Chap. XIV.] CONQUEST OF SPAIN. 123 

Syphax, the king of the Massaeylians, or Eastern Numidians. 
With only two quinqueremes he ventured to leave his province 
and repair to the court of Syphax. There he met his old 
adversary, Hasdrubal son of Gisgo, who had crossed over from 
Gades for the same purpose ; and the two generals spent several 
days together in friendly intercourse. Scipio made a great 
impression upon Syphax; but the charms of Sophonisba, the 
daughter of Hasdrubal, whom the latter offered in marriage to 
Syphax, prevailed over the influence of Scipio. Syphax married 
her, and from that time became the zealous supporter and ally 
of the Carthaginians, 

During Scipio's absence in Africa a formidable insurrection 
had broken out in Spain ; but on his return it was speedily put 
down, and terrible vengeance was inflicted upon the town of 
Ilhturgis, which had taken the principal share in the revolt. 
Scarcely had this danger passed away when Scipio was seized 
with a dangerous illness. Eight thousand of the Roman soldiers, 
discontented with not having received their usual pay, availed 
themselves of this opportunity to break out into open mutiny ; 
but Scipio quelled it with his usual promptitude and energy. 

He crushed the last remains of the insun-ection ; and to crown 
his other successes, Gades at last surrendered to the Romans. 
Mago had crossed over into Liguria, to effect a 
diversion in favour of his brother Hannibal, and ^'^^^^^'^^'^ of 
there was therefore now no longer any enemy left 
in Spain. 

Scipio returned to Rome in 206 B.C., and immediately offered 
himself as a candidate for the consulship. He was elected for 
the foflowing year (205 B.C.) by the votes of the centuries, 
although he had not yet filled the office of praetor, and was only 
thirty years of age. His colleague was P. Licinius Crassus, the 
Pontifex Maximus, who could not, by the rules of his order, 
leave Italy. Consequently, if the war was to be carried on 
abroad, the conduct of it must of necessity devolve upon Scipio. 
The latter was anxious to land at once in Africa, and bring the 
contest to an end at the gates of Carthage ; but the older 
members of the senate opposed the project, partly through 
timidity and partly through jealousy of the youthful conqueror. 

Afl that Scipio could obtain was the province of Sicily, with 
permission to invade Africa if he should think it for the advantage 



124 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XIV. 

of the Kepublic ; but the senate resolutely refused him an army, 
thus making the permission of no practical use. The allies had 
. . a truer view of the interests of Italy than the 

ipi m Roman senate ; from all the Italian towns volun- 

teers flocked to join the standard of the youthful 
hero. The senate could not refuse to allow him to enlist these 
volunteers ; and such was the enthusiasm in his favour that 
he was able to cross over to Sicily with an array and a fleet, 
contrary to the expectations and even the wishes of the senate. 
While busy with preparations in Sicily, he sent over Laelius 
to Africa with a small fleet to concert a plan of co-operation 
with Masinissa. But meantime his enemies at Rome had nearly 
succeeded in depriving him of his command. Although he had 
no authority in Lower Italy, he had assisted in the reduction of 
Locri, and after the conquest of the town had left Q. Pleminius 
in command. The latter had been guilty of such excesses 
against the inhabitants, that they sent an embassy to Rome to 
complain of his conduct. Q. Fabius Maximus eagerly availed 
himself of the opportunity to inveigh in general against the 
conduct of Scipio, and to urge his immediate recall. Scipio's 
magnificent style of living, and his love for Greek literature and 
art, were denounced by his enemies as dangerous innovations 
upon old Roman manners and frugality. It was asserted that 
the time which ought to be given to the exercise and the train- 
ing of his troops was wasted in the Greek gymnasia or in literary 
pursuits. Though the senate lent a willing ear to these attacks, 
they did not venture upon his immediate recall, but sent a com- 
mission into Sicily to inquire into the state of the army. During 
the winter Scipio had been busy in completing his preparations ; 
and by this time he had collected all his stores, and brought his 
army and navy into the most efficient state. The commissioners 
were astonished at what they saw. Instead of ordering him to 
return to Rome, they bade him cross over to Africa as soon as 
possible. 

Accordingly, in 204 B.C., Scipio, who was now proconsul, sailed 

from Lilybaeum and landed in Africa, not far 

Scipio's cam- f^^^ Utica. He was immediately joined by Masi- 

Dftiffu in. 

AMca. nissa, who rendered him the most important 

services in the war. He commenced the cam- 
paign by laying siege to Utica, and took up his quarters on a 



Chap. XIV.] SCIPIO IN AFRICA. 125 

projecting headland to the east of the town, on a spot which long 
bore the name of the Cornelian Camp. Meantime the Cartha- 
ginians had collected a powerful army, which they placed under 
the command of Hasdrubal son of Gisgo, Scipio's old opponent 
in Spain ; and Syphax came to their assistance with a great 
force. 

In the beginning of 203 B.C. Scipio planned a night attack 
upon the two camps occupied by Hasdrubal and Syphax. With 
the assistance of Masinissa, his enterprise was crowned with 
success ; the two camps were burnt to the ground, and only a 
few of the enemy escaped the fire and the sword. Among these, 
however, were both Hasdrubal and Syphax ; the former fled to 
Carthage, where he persuaded the senate to raise another army, 
and the latter retreated to his native dominions, where he like- 
wise collected fresh troops. But their united forces were again 
defeated by Scipio. Hasdrubal did not venture to make his 
appearance again in Carthage ; and Syphax once more fled into 
Numidia. Scipio did not give the Numidian prince any repose ; 
he was pursued by Laelius and Masinissa, and finally taken 
prisoner. Among the captives who fell into their hands was 
Sophonisba, the wife of Syphax, whom Masinissa had long loved, 
and had expected to marry when she was given to his rival. 
Masinissa now not only promised to preserve her from captivity, 
but, to prevent her falling into the hands of the Eomans, deter- 
mined to marry her himself. Their nuptials were accordingly 
celebrated without delay, but Scipio, fearful of the influence 
which she might exercise over his ally, sternly upbraided him 
■with his weakness, and insisted on the immediate surrender of 
the princess. Unable to resist this command, Masinissa spared 
her the humiliation of captivity by sending her a bowl of poison, 
which she drank without hesitation, and thus put an end to her 
own life. 

These repeated disasters so alarmed the Carthaginians that 

they resolved to recall Hannibal and Mago. . Hannibal quitted 

Italy in 203 b.c, to the great joy of the Romans. 

For more than fifteen years had he carried on „® ., , 
. , , . . Hannibal, 

the war m that country, laymg it waste from 

one extremity to another ; and during all this period his 

superiority in the field had been uncontested. The Romans 

calculated that in these fifteen years their losses in the field 



128 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XIV. 

alone had amounted to not less than 300,000 men — a statement 
which will hardly appear exaggerated when we consider the 
continual combats in which they were engaged by their ever- 
watchful foe. 

As soon as Hannibal landed in Africa the hopes of the Cartha- 
ginians revived, and they looked forward to a favourable termi- 
nation of the war. Hannibal, however, formed a truer estimate 
of the real state of affairs ; he saw that the loss of a battle would 
be the min of Carthage, and he was therefore anxious to con- 
clude a peace before it was too late. Scipio, who was eager to 
have the glory of bringing the war to a close, and who feared 
lest his enemies in the senate might appoint him a successor, 
was equall}' desirous of a peace. But the war-party had now 
the ascendency at Carthage ; the terras proposed by Scipio, 
though moderate in themselves, were rejected ; and as Hannibal, 
at a personal interview with the Eoman general, could not obtain 
any abatement of the conditions, he was forced, against his will, 
to continue the war. Into the details of the campaign, which 
are related very differently, our hmits will not permit us to 
enter. 

The decisive battle was at length fought on the 19th of 
October, 202 B.C., on the Bagradas, not far from the city of 
Zama ; and Hannibal, according to the express 
Battle or testimony of his antagonist, displayed on this occa- 

sion all the qualities of a consummate general. 
But he was now particularly deficient in that formidable 
cavalry which had so often decided the victorj^ in his favour ; 
his elephants, of which he had a great number, were ren- 
dered unavailing by the skilful management of Scipio ; and 
the battle ended in his complete defeat, notwithstanding the 
heroic exertions of his veteran infantry. Twenty thousand of 
his men fell on the field of battle, as many were made prisoners, 
and Hannibal himself with difficulty escaped the pursuit of 
Masinissa. Upon his arrival at Carthage he was the first to 
admit the magnitude of the disaster, and to point out the impos- 
sibility of the further prosecution of the war. The terms, how- 
ever, now imposed by Scipio were much more severe than 
before. Carthage had no alternative but submission; but the 
negotiations were protracted for some time, and a final treaty 
was not concluded till the following year (201 B.C.). By this 



Chap. XlV.] 



PEACE WITH CARTilAGE. 



127 



treaty it was agreed that the Carthaginians were to preserve 

their independence and territory in Afrnja,, but to give up all 

claims to any foreign possessions ; that they 

were to surrender all prisoners and deserters, all ®""S °* 

,, p6ac6i 
their ships of war except ten triremes, and all 

their elephants ; that they were not to make war in Africa or 

out of Africa without the consent of Home • that they were 

to acknowledge Masinissa as king of Numidia; and that they 

were to pay 10,000 talents in silver in the course of fifty years. 




Soldiers blowing Tubeaand Cornua (from Column of TKy"aa). 





Coin of Antiochus the Great. 



CHAPTER XV. 



WARS m THE EAST. THE MACEDONIAK, SYRIAN", AND GALATIAN 
WARS. 214-188 B.C. 

The Second Pnnic War made the Romans undisputed masters 
of the western shores of the Mediterranean. Sicily, Sardinia, 
and Corsica were Roman provinces ; Spain owned 
p ? Wars *^^ Roman supremacy, and Carthage was com- 
pletely humbled. Rome's immediate object was 
secured, and here, had her own wishes been consulted, she might 
have paused ; but it is the fate of a conquering nation not to be 
able to assign any precise limits to its power. The Roman 
Republic was now the most powerful state in the ancient world, 
and, as such, was necessarily drawn into the vortex of Eastern 
politics. 

The Greek kingdoms in Asia, founded by the successors of 
Alexander the Great, bore within them the seeds of decay. The 
mighty kingdom of Syria, which had once ex- 
of Asia^^ ^"^^ tended from the Indus to the Aegean Sea, had 
now lost some of its fairest provinces. The 
greater part of Asia Minor no longer owned the authority of the 
Syrian kings. Pontus was governed by its own rulers. A 
large body of Gauls, a portion of the migratory hordes which 
had burst on Greece and Asia in 280 B.C., had settled in the 
northern part of Phrygia, which district was now called Galatia 
after them. A new kingdom was founded in Mysia, to which 
the name of Pergamus was given from its chief city ; and Attains, 



Chap. tV.] THE EASTERN POWERS. l2d 

who was king of Pergamus during the Second Punic War, 
formed an alliance with Rome as a protection against Syria and 
Macedonia. The king of Syria at this time was Antiochus III., 
who, from his victory over the Parthians, had received the sur- 
name of the Great. 

Egypt was governed by the Greek monarchs, who bore the 
name of Ptolemy. They had, even as early as the time of 
Pyrrhus, formed an alhance with Rome (see p. 81). ^ 
The kingdom had since declined in power, and * 

upon the death of Ptolemy IV., surnamed Philopator, in 205 B.C., 
the ministers of his infant son Ptolemy Epiphanes, dreading the 
ambitious designs of the Macedonian and Syrian kings, placed 
him under the protection of the Roman senate, who consented 
to become his guardians. 

The Republic of Rhodes was the chief maritime power in 
the Aegean Sea. It extended its dominion over a portion of the 
opposite coasts of Caria and Lycia, and over , 
several of the neighbouring islands. Like the 
king of Pergamus, the Rhodians had formed an alliance with 
Rome as a protection against Macedonia. 

Macedonia was still a powerful kingdom, governed at this time 
by Philip V., a monarch of considerable ability, who ascended 
the throne in 220 B.C., at the early age of seven- 
teen. His dominion extended over the greater ond'oree^ 
part of Greece, but two new powers had sprung 
up since the death of Alexandei-, which served as some counter- 
poise to the Macedonian supremacy. Of these the most important 
was the Achaean League, which embraced the greater part 
of the Peloponnesus. The Aetolian League included at this 
time a considerable portion of Central Greece. Athens and 
Sparta still retained their independence, but with scarcely a 
shadow of their former greatness and power. 

Such was the state of the Eastern world when it came into con- 
tact with the arms of Rome. The challenge came from Macedon. 

We have already seen that during the Second Punic War 

Philip had been engaged in hostilities with the Roman Republic. 

Demetrius of Pharos, twice a traitor to his masters, —. t«. ;, 

after he had been driven by the Romans from the „/„„ ,„ 

. *' man War. 

Illyrian dominions which he had usurped, had 

taken refuge at the court of Philip, and soon acquired unbounded 

K 



130 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XV. 

influence over the mind of the young king. This wily Greek 
urged him to take up arms against the grasping Repubhc ; and 
the ambition of Philip was still further excited by the victoriea 
of Hannibal. After the battle of Cannae (216 B.C.) he concluded 
a treaty with Hannibal ; but, instead of supporting the Cartha- 
ginian army and ileet, his proceedings were marked by an un- 
accountable degree of hesitation and delay. It was not til! 
214 B.C. that he appeared in the Adriatic with a fleet, and laid 
siege to Oricum and Apollonia, which the Romans had retained 
possession of at the close of the Illyrian War.* He succeeded 
in taking Oricum ; but the arrival of a small Roman force, under 
the command of M. Valerius Laevinus, compelled him to raise 
the siege of Apollonia, and to burn his own ships to prevent 
their falling into the hands of the enemy. For the next three 
years the war was carried on with unaccountable slackness on 
both sides; but in 211 B.C. it assumed a new character after the 
Romans had formed with the Aetolian league an alliance which 
gave them their first footing in Greece. Into the details of the 
campaigns which followed it is unnecessary to enter; but the 
attention of the Romans was soon afterwards directed to aSairs 
in Spain, and the Aetolians were left almost alone to cope with 
Philip. The Achaeans also joined Philip against the Aetolians, 
and the latter people were so hard pressed that they were glad 
to make peace with the Macedonian king. Shortly afterwards 
the Romans, who were desirous of turning their undivided 
attention to the invasion of Africa, also concluded peace with 
him (205 B.C.). 

The peace, which thus terminated the First Macedonian War, 

was probably regarded by both parties as little more than a 

suspension of hostihties. Philip even went so far 

hostiUtie^^^^ ^^ **^ ^^^^ **^ *^® Carthaginians in Africa a body 
of 4000 men, who fought at Zama under the 
command of Hannibal. At the same time, he proceeded to carry 
out his plans for his own aggrandizement in Greece, without any 
regard to the Roman alliances in that country. In order to 
establish his naval supremacy in the Aegean Sea, he attacked 
the Rhodians and Attalus king of Pergamus, both of whom were 
allies of Rome. He had also previously made a treaty with 
Antiochus, king of Syria, for the dismemberment of the Egyptian 
* See p. 96. 



Chap. XV.] SECOiND MACEDONIAN WAR. 131 

monarchy, whicli was placed under the guardianship of the 
Roman people. 

It was impossible for the senate to pass over these acts of 
hostility, and accordingly, in the year after the conclusion of 
the Second Punic War, the Consul P. Sulpicius 
Galba proposed to the Comitia of the Centuries j^^^^ w^°^" 
that war should be declared against Philip. But 
the people longed for repose, and rejected the proposition by 
the almost unanimous vote of every century. It was only by the 
most earnest remonstrance, and by alarming them with the 
picture of Philip, like another Hannibal, invading Italy, that 
they were induced to reverse their decision and declare war 
(200 B.C.). 

Philip was at this time engaged in the siege of Athens, which 
had joined Attains and the Rhodians. The Consul G-alba crossed 
over to Epirus, and Athens was relieved by a Roman fleet ; but 
before he withdrew, Philip, prompted by anger and revenge, dis- 
played his barbarism by destroying the gardens and buildings 
in the suburbs, including the Lyceum and the tombs of the Attic 
heroes ; and in a second incursion which he made with large 
reinforcements he committed still greater excesses. For some 
time, however, the war lingered on without any decided success 
on either side. The Consul Villius, who succeeded Galba in 
199 B.C., effected nothing of importance ; and it was not till 
the appointment of the Consul T. Quinctius Flamininus to 
the command that the war was carried on with energy and 
vigour (198 B.C.). He forced his way through the narrow 
pass of the Aous, which was occupied by the enemy, invaded 
Thessaly, and took up his winter quarters in Phocis and 
Locris. 

In the following year (197 B.C.) the struggle was brought to 
a termination by the battle of Cynoscephalae (Dogs' Heads), a 
range of hills near Scotussa, in Thessaly. The 
Romans were at first in a dangerous position from nosceDhalae 
which they were only saved by the excellent 
Aetolian cavalry ; but, when once the rigid lines of the Mace- 
donian phalanx had been broken, the slaughter was terrific : 
8000 Macedonians were killed and 5000 taken prisoners, while 
Flamininus lost only 700 men. Philip was obliged to sue for 
peace, and in the following year (196 B.C.) a treaty was ratified 



132 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XV. 

by which the Macedonians were compelled to withdraw their 
garrisons from the Greek towns, to surrender their fleet, to 
promise to conclude no foreign alliances without Rome's con- 
Bent, and to pay 1000 talents for the expenses of the war, half 
at once, and half by annual instalments in the course of ten 
years. 

The war left the cities of Greece at the mercy of Rome ; but 
the senate shrank from undertaking permanent responsibilities 
even in Eastern Europe, and when at the ensuing 
clared free Isthmian games Flamininus solemnly proclaimed 
the independence and freedom of Greece, this 
declaration was an outcome of policy as well as of the phil-Hel- 
lenic spirit of the Roman general, whom the throngs of Greeks 
that gathered round him hailed as their liberator. 

Flamininus, who remained two years longer in the country, 
seems to have been actuated by a sincere desire to restore the 
internal peace and welfare of Greece ; and whenever his actions 
appear at variance with this object, he was under the influence 
of the policy of the Republic. Thus, though he made war upon 
Nabis, the tyrant of Sparta, and deprived him of the southern 
portion of Laconia, he did not depose him, but retained him as 
a useful check upon the Achaeans. When Flamininus returned 
to Italy in 194 B.C., he withdrew the Roman garrisons from aU 
the Greek towns, even from Corinth, Chalcis, and Demetrias, 
the three strongest fortresses in the country, which were called 
the Fetters of Greece. On his departure he convoked an 
assembly of the Greeks at Corinth, in which he exhorted them 
to use their freedom wisely, and to remain faithful to Rome. 
He then returned, after an absence of five years, with a reputa- 
tion second only to that of Scipio Africanus, and celebrated a 
splendid triumph. 

It has been already mentioned that Philip had formed an 
alliance with Antiochus III., king of Syria, surnamed the Great, 
for the dismemberment of the Egyptian monarchy. 
Svria During the war between Philip and the Romans, 

Antiochus had occupied Asia Minor, and was pre- 
paring to cross into Greece. Upon the conclusion of this war 
Flamininus sternly forbade him to set foot in Europe, and for 
a time he shrank from a contest with the victorious arms of 
Rome. But the Aetolians, who had fought on the Roman side, 



Chap. XV.] WAR WITH ANTIOCHUS. 133 

were discontented with tlie arrangements of Flamininns. Their 
arrogance led them to claim the chief merit of the victory of 
Cynoscephalae, and their cupidity desired a larger share in the 
spoils of the war. Flamininus had scarcely quitted Greece before 
the Aetolians endeavoured to persuade Philip, Nabis, and Antio- 
chus to enter into a league against the Romans. Philip at once 
refused, but Nabis took up arms, and Antiochus willingly entered 
into the designs of the Aetolians. At this time Hannibal appeared 
as an exile at the Syrian court. After the Second Punic War 
he had set himself to work, hke his father Hamilcar at the end 
of the previous war, to prepare means for renewing the contest 
at no distant period. One of these means was a reform in the 
constitution of Carthage ; to establish his power, he limited the 
term of office of the 104 to a year, and thus made the govern- 
ment more democratic ; but the oligarchs avenged themselves 
by denouncing him to the Romans as engaged in negotiations 
with Antiochus to induce him to take up arms against Rome. 
The senate sent envoys to Carthage to inquire into these charges; 
and Hannibal, seeing that his enemies were too strong for 
him, secretly took flight, and reached the Syrian court in 
safety. 

He was received with the highest honours, and urged the king 
to place an army at his disposal with which he might invade 
Italy. But Antiochus was persuaded by the 
Aetolians to cross over into Greece, and landed Antiochus 
at Demetrias in Thessaly in 192 b.c. The Romans q°^^^q *° 
now declared war, and in the following year 
(191 B.C.) the Consul Acilius Glabrio marched into Thessaly, 
The king had entrenched himself in the passes of Thermopylae, 
that he might prevent the Romans from penetrating into Central 
Greece. But there was, as is well known, a difficult passage 
across Mount Oeta, by which the Persians had descended to fight 
with Leonidas. 

This passage was now forced by M. Cato, who was serving as 
one of the consul's lieutenants, and, as soon as he appeared in 
the rear of the Syrian army, they fled in confusion, -a- * f 
and the battle was won. Antiochus now hastened 
back to Asia, abandoning all further hopes of conquest in Greece. 
As soon as he had placed the sea between himself and the 
Romans, he thought that he was safe ; but Hannibal warned him 



134 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XV, 

of his error, and said that he wondered that the Eomans had 
not already followed him. 

Next year (190 b.c.) L. Cornelius Scipio, the brother of the 
great Africanus, and C Laolius, the intimate friend of the latter, 

were consuls. L. Scipio was anxious to have the 
Eoman inya- command of the war against Antiochus ; but the 

senate had not much confidence in his abihty, and 
it was only in consequence of his brother Africanus offering 
to serve under him as Ms lieutenant that he obtained the com- 
mand which he desired. 

Meantime Antiochus had collected a vast army from all 
parts of his dominions, and, advancing northwards from Ephesus, 

laid waste the kingdom of Pergamus. But upon 
Battle of .jj^g approach of the Roman army, which entered 

Asia by crossing the Hellespont, Antiochus re- 
treated southvi/ards ; and the decisive battle was fought near 
Magnesia at the foot of Mount Sipylus. The Romans obtained 
an easy and bloodless victory over the vast but disorderly 
rabble of the Syrian monarch. Only 400 Romans fell, while 
Antiochus lost 53,000 men. He at once gave up the contest 
in despair, and humbly sued for peace. Rome left him his 
kingdom of Syria, but forced him to abandon all claim to the 
territories west of Mount Taurus with the exception of Cihcia 
(that is, nearly the whole of Asia Minor) ; he had besides to 
pay 15,000 Euboic talents within twelve years, to give up his 
elephants and ships of war, and to surrender to the Romans 
Hannibal and some others who had taken refuge at his court. 
Hannibal foresaw his danger, and made his escape to Crete, 
from whence he afterwards repaired to the court of Prusias, 
king of Bithynia. 

L. Scipio returned to Rome in the following year, bringing 
with him enormous treasures. In imitation of his brother, he 
assumed the surname of Asiaticds. 

The Romans were now at leisure to punish the Aetolians, 
who had to make head against the Romans by themselves. The 

consul M. Fulvius Nobilior (189 B.C.) took their 

-.u ^a''^''°v most important town, Ambracia, after an obstinate 

the Aetohans. ' u a 4.u \. e 

resistance, and compelled them to sue lor peace. 

This was granted, but on the most humiliating conditions. 

They were required to acknowledge the supremacy of Rome, 



Chap. XV,] ORGANIZATION OF ASIA. 135 

to renounce all the conquests they had recently made, to pay 
an indemnity of 500 talents, and to engage in future to aid the 
Romans in their wars. The power of the Aetolian league was 
thus for ever crushed, though it seems to have existed, in name 
at least, till a much later period. 

The colleague of M. Fulvius Nobilior was Cn. Manlius Volso, 
who had received command in Asia that he might conclude the 
peace which had been made with Antiochus, and 
arrange the affairs of the surrendered territories. Jt'i^o^^s over 
But Manlius was not content with the subordinate 
part allotted to him ; and being anxious for booty as much as 
for glory, he attacked the Galatians in Asia Minor, without 
waiting for any instructions from the senate, and in direct 
opposition to the ten commissioners who had been sent to assist 
him in the work of organization. This was the first instance in 
which a Roman general had made war without the autliority 
of the senate or the people — a dangerous precedent, which was 
afterwards only too faithfully followed. The Galatians or 
Gallograeci were a body of Gauls, who, after laying waste a 
great part of Asia Minor, had, as we saw, settled in the north of 
Phrygia, and had there acquired a semi-Greek culture. The assist- 
ance which they had given, as mercenary troops, to Antiochus 
at Magnesia supplied Manlius with a pretext for marching 
against them. He defeated them in two battles, and compelled 
them to sue for peace. The campaign greatly enriched Manlius 
and his legions, as the Gauls had accumulated enormous wealth 
by their many conquests. 

Manlius remained another year (188 B.C.) in the East as pro- 
consul, and, in conjunction with the ten commissioners, foimally 
concluded the peace with Antiochus, and settled 
the affairs of Asia. Here, as in Greece, Eome Q^YSa^^^^^ 
steadily refused to acquire territory for herself; 
the principle adopted was that which we now call the " balance 
of power," two existing governments being strengthened to 
check the ambition of the Syrian king. Eumenes, the king 
of Pergamus, received the Chersonnese, Mysia, Lydia, and part 
of Caria, and the Rhodians obtained the remaining portion of 
Caria, together with Lycia and Pisidia. Manlius returned to 
'Rome in 187 B.C., and celebrated a magnificent triumph. But 
his soldiers, like those of Scipio, had been touched by the 



136 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



[Chap. XV. 



corrupting influence of the East, These campaigns, as we shall 
presently see, exercised a most injurious influence upon the 
character of the Koman nobles and people, teaching them to 
love war for the sake of acquiring wealth, and prompting them 
to acts of robbery and rapine. 




'Dying Galatian" (so-callpd dying gladiator). From the Original 
in the Museum of tlie Capitol. 




Roman Soldiers (from Column of Trajan). 



CHAPTER XVI. 

WAKS IN THE WEST. THE GALLIC, LIGURIAN, AND SPANISH 

WARS. 200-175 B.C. 



While the Roman legions in the East were acquiring wealth 
and winning easy conquests, their less fortunate comrades in the 
West were carrying on a severe struggle with the warlike Gauls, 
Ligurians, and Spaniards. The Romans had hardly concluded 
the Second Punic War when they received intelligence that 
Harailcar, a Carthaginian officer, had excited several tribes in 
Northern Italy to take up arms against Rome. These were the 
Gauls on both sides of the Po, and the Ligurians, a race of hardj'' 
mountaineers, inhabiting the upper Apennines and the Maritime 
Alps.* The Gauls commenced the war in 200 B.C. by the 

♦ See p. 3. 



138 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XVI. 

capture and destruction of the Roman colony of Placentia, and 
by laying siege to that of Cremona, the two strongholds of the 
Roman dominion in Northern Italy. 

The Romans now set themselves to work, with the charac- 
teristic stubbornness of their nation, to reduce these tribes to a 
thorough subjection. The Insubres and the Ceno- 
of tlT^Gauls D^^'^ij to the north of the Po, were the first to 
yield ; but the Boii resisted for some years all the 
efforts of the Romans, and it was not till 191 B.C. that the Consul 
P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica received their final submission. His 
progress through their territory was a pitiless slaughter, and he 
made it one of the claims of his triumph that he had left only 
children and old men alive. 

This warlike people was now thoroughly subdued, and from 
henceforth Cisalpine Gaul became a Roman province, and 
gradually adopted the language and customs of 
Organization Rome. The submission of the people was secured 
Gaul ^y *^® foundation of new colonies and the forma- 

tion of military roads. In 189 B.C. a colony was 
established at Bononia, now Bologna, in the country of the Boii, 
and six years afterwards others were also founded at Mutina 
(Modena) and Parma. A military road made by M. Aemilius 
Lepidus, consul for 180 B.C., and called the Via Aemilia, was a 
continuation of t^jio Via Flaminia, and ran from Ariminum past 
Bononia, Mutma, and Parma to Placentia. 

The subjugation of the Ligurians was a longer and more 
difficult task. These hardy mountaineers continued the war, 
. with intermissiuus, for a period of eighty years. 

°^ ' The Romans, after penetrating into the heart of 

Liguria, were seldom able to effect more than the temporary 
dispersal of the tribes, which took refuge in their villages and 
castles — the latter being mountain-fastnesses, in which they 
were generally able to defy their pursuers. Into the details 
of these long-protracted and inglorious hostilities it is unneces- 
sary to enter : but the result of these northern wars was of great 
importance. Roman influence and Italian civilization were 
firmly established up to the Po, which now practically replaced 
the Apennines as the boundary of Italy, while the subjection of 
the Transpadane Gauls closed the gates of the Alps to further 
Celtic immigrants. 



Chap. XVl] THE SPANISH PEOVlNCES. 139 

The conquests of Scipio Africanus had driven the Cartha- 
ginians out of Spain, and established the Roman supremacy in 
that country. Accordingly, soon after the end m, « 

of the Second Punic War (about 197 B.C.), the . „„ 

Eomans proceeded to consolidate their dominion 
in Spain by dividing it into two provinces, each governed by a 
praetor, which were called Hispania Citerior, or Hither Spain, 
and Hispania Ulterior, or Further Spain, and divided from each 
other by the Iberus, or Ebro. But it was little more than the 
eastern part of the peninsula that was really subject to Rome. 
The powerful tribes of the Celtiberians in Central Spain, the 
Lusitanians in Portugal, and the Cantabrians and Gallaecians in 
the north-west, still maintained their independence. Rome had 
now for the first time to establish a permanent garrison in a 
dependency across the sea ; for, in order to secure a semblance 
of tranquillity in Spain, four legions had to be kept in the country. 
Thus originated the principle of taxing a nation to defray the 
expenses of its military occupation. A direct tax was imposed 
on Spain, paid partly in money and partly in kind. The division 
of the country into two provinces, and the army of occupation, 
showed that the Romans intended to hold Spain permanently, 
and this conviction occasioned a general insurrection in both the 
provinces. 

The Consul M. Porcius Cato, of whom we shall speak more 
fully presently, was sent to put down this rebellion (195 B.C.). 
The whole country was in arms ; but his military 

genius and indefatigable industrv soon re-estab- ^, Jr ■ r. 
f . , , , • • i. T-. TT • 1 1 t^® Spanish 

iisned the superiority ox Rome. He gained several insurrection 
decisive victories, contrived to set tribe against 
tribe, and took native mei'cenaries into his pay. The details of 
his campaign are full of horrors. We read of the wholesale 
slaughter of men who had laid down their arms, of multitudes 
sold as slaves, and of many more who put themselves to death 
to escape this fate. Cato was not the man to feel any compunc- 
tions of conscience in the performance of what he considered a 
rigorous public task. He boasted of having destroyed more 
towns in Spain than he had spent days in that country. When 
he had reduced the whole of Hither Spain to a hollow, sullen, 
and temporary submission, he returned to Rome, and was re- 
warded with a triumph. 



140 



HISTORY OF HOME. 



[Chap. XVI. 



The severe measures of Cato only exasperated the Spaniards. 
They again took up arms, and continued to resist the Eoman 
praetors for the next sixteen years, till Tib. Sem- 
Pacification pronius Gracchus, the father of the celebrated 
Gracchus tribunes, after gaining several brilliant victories 

over the Celtiberians, granted them an honourable 
peace. He gave equitable charters to the conquered tribes, 
while he tried to secure the interest of the Spanish chiefs by 
attaching them to the Roman military service, and to check the 
roving habits of the people by the founding of towns. By his 
wise measures and conciliatory conduct he won the affections of 
the natives, and induced them to regard the Eoman supremacy 
with greater patience (179 B.C.). 

Two petty wars in the West then engaged for a time the 
attention of Rome. The Sardinians and Corsicans revolted, and 
. . held out for two years against the conqueror of 

I^trS Wars ^P^^" (177-175 B.C.). But Gracchus effected their 
complete subjugation, and brought to Rome so 
large a number of captives for sale as to give rise to the proverb 
" Sardi venales" for anything that was cheap and worthless. 

The Istrians, near the head of the Adriatic Gulf, had been 
conquered by the Romans just before the Second Punic War. 
But their complete subjugation was now necessary, on account 
of their proximity to the newly-formed province of Cisalpine 
Ganl. Accordingly the consuls invaded Istria in 178 B.C., and 
in the following year the whole people was reduced to sub- 
mission. 




A Roman genpral addressing his soldiers. 




Lictors. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE ROMAN CONSTITUTION AND ARMT. 



The career of foreign conquest upon which the Rey)ubh'c had 
now entered continued with httle or no interruption till the 
establishment of the Empire. We may here pause to take a 
brief survey of the form of government, as well as of the 
military organization by which these conquests were effected. 

The earlier history of the Eoman constitution has been already 
related. We have seen how, after a long struggle, the plebeians 
acquired more than political equality with the 
patricians. In the Second Punic War the .^ orders 
antagonism between the two orders had almost 
disappeared, and the only mark of separation between them in 
political matters which was of material importance was the 
regulation, that, of the two consuls and two censors one must 
be a plebeian. The other patrician privileges were merely formal. 
The fictitious ratification of laws passed by the Comitia — the 
so-called patrum auctoritas — was in the hands of the patrician 
members of the senate ; it was they, too, who appointed the 



142 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XVII. 

interrex, who must himself be a patrician ; while certain priestly 
offices of no political importance — those of the Eex Sacrorum 
and the three great Flamines — were closed to the plebeians. 

I. The Magistrates. — Every Roman citizen who aspired to 
the consulship had to pass through a regular gi'adation of public 
. offices, and the earliest age at which he could 

trates " become a candidate for them was fixed by a law 
passed in 179 b.c, and' known by the name of the 
Lex Annalis. The earliest age for the quaestorship, which was 
the first of these magistracies, was 28 years ; for the aedileship, 
37 ; for the praetorship, 40 ; and for the consulship, 43. 

All magistrates at Rome were divided into curules and those 
who were not curules. The Curule Magistrates were so called 
because they had the right of sitting upon the Sella Ourulis, 
originally an emblem of kingly power, imported, along with other 
insignia of royalty, from Etruria. They were either (i.) ordinary 
magistrates, e.g. consuls, praetors, and curule aediles; or (ii.) 
extraordinary, e.g. the dictator, the magister equitum, and the 
interrex. 

1. The quaestors were the paymasters of the state. It was 
their duty to receive the revenues, and to make all the necessary 

payments for the military and civil services. 
' There were originally only two quaestors, but 
their number was constantly increased with the conquests of the 
Republic. Besides two quaestors who always remained at Rome 
in charge of the treasury, every consul, praetor, or pro-magistrate 
who conducted a war or governed a province was attended by 
one of these officials. 

2. The aedileship was originally a plebeian office, instituted 
at the same time as the tribunate of the plebs.* To the two 
. ,., plebeian aediles two curule aediles were added in 

365 B.C. The four aediles in common had the 
charge of the public buildings,t the care of the cleansing and 
draining of the city, and the superintendence of the police. 
They had also the regulation of the public festivals ; and the 
celebration of the Lndi Magni, or Great Games, was their especial 
function. Originally they received a sum of money from the 
state to defray the expenses of these games, but this grant was 
withdrawn about the time of the First Punic War — a measure 
• See p. 38. t Hence their name, from aedes, a temple. 



Chap. XVII.] THE ROMAN CONSTITUTION. 143 

attended with important consequences, since the higher magis- 
tracies were thus confined to the wealthy, who alone could defray 
the charges of these costly entertainments. After the Mace- 
donian and Syrian wars the curule aediles often incurred a 
prodigious expense with the view of pleasing the people, and 
securing their votes in future elections. 

Next come the magistrates with imperium — the praetors and 
consuls. 

3. The institution of the praeforship in 366 B.C. has been 
already narrated. It was an office modelled closely on the 
consulship ; the praetor had the imperium, with _ 

the attendant powers of summoning the senate and 
people, jurisdiction and military command ; and he was attended 
by six lictors. There was originally only one praetor, subse- 
quently called Praetor Urbanus, whose chief duty was the 
administration of civil justice. In 246 b.c. a second praetor was 
added, who had to decide cases in which foreigners were con- 
cerned, and who was hence called Praetor Peregrinus. When 
the territories of the state extended beyond Italy, new praetors 
were created to govern the provinces. Two praetors were 
appointed to take the administration of Sicilj' and Sardinia 
(227 B.C.), and two more were added when the two Spanish 
provinces were formed (197 B.C.). There were thus six praetors, 
two of whom stayed in the city while the other four went abroad. 

4. The consuls were the highest ordinary magistrates at Rome, 
and were at the head both of the state and the army. They 
convoked the senate and the assemblies of the 

centuries and of the tribes ; they presided in each, 
and had to see that the resolutions of the senate and the people 
were carried into effect. They had the supreme command of 
the armies in virtue of the imperium conferred upon them by 
a special vote of the people. At the head of the army, they 
had full power of life and death over their soldiers. They were 
preceded by twelve lictors, but this outward sign of power was 
enjoyed by them month by month in turn. 

The magistrates above mentioned were elected annually, but 
it was usual to prolong the command of the consuls or praetors 
in the provinces under the titles of proconsuls or propraetors. 
In the later times of the Republic it was customary for both 
consuls and several praetors to remain at Rome during their 



144 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. ^Vlt. 

year of office, and at its close to take the command of provinces, 
with the titles of proconsuls or propraetors. 

5. The dictatorship, which occurs so often in the early history 
of the Republic, disappears altogether after the Second Punic 

War. As the Ilepublic became powerful, and had 
Dictator. ^^ longer to dread any enemies in Italy, there 

was no necessity for such an extraordinary magistracy as the 
dictatorship, but whenever internal dangers seemed to require a 
stronger executive, the senate, with doubtful legality, invested the 
consuls with dictatorial power.* 

6. The censors were two in number, elected every five years, 
but holding their office for only eighteen months. The censorship 

was the crown of a political career, as the office 

ensors. ^^^ usually held by an ex-consul. The duties of 

the censors, which were very extensive and very important, may 

be divided into three classes, all of which, however, were closely 

connected. 

(a) Their first and most important duty was to take the census. 
This was not simply a list of the population, according to the 
modern use of the word, but a valuation of the property of every 
Eoman citizen. This valuation was necessary, not only for the 
assessment of the property-tax, but also for determining the 
position of every citizen in the state, which was regulated, in 
accordance with the constitution of Servius Tullins, by the 
amount of his property. Accordingly, the censors had to draw 
up lists of the classes and centuries. They also made out the 
lists of the senators and equites, striking out the names of all 
whom they deemed unworthy, and filling up all vacancies in both 
orders. 

(&) The censors possessed a general control over the conduct 
and morals of the citizens. In the exercise of this important 
power they were not guided hj any rules of law, but simply by 
their own sense of duty. They punished acts of private as well 
as public immorality, and visited with their censure, not ovAy 
offences against the laws, but everything opposed to the old 
Roman character and habits, such as living in celibacy, extrava- 
gance, luxury, etc. They had the power of degrading every 
citizen to a lower rank, of expelling senators from the senate, 

* This was done by the well-known formula, " Videant," or " Dent operam 
Consules, ne quid res publica detrimenti capiat." 



Chap. XVI].] THE ROMAN CONSTITUTION. 145 

of depriving the equites of their horses, and of removing 
ordinary citizens from their tribes, and thus excluding them from 
all political rights. 

(c) The censors also had the administration of the finances of 
the state, under the direction of the senate. They let out the 
taxes to the highest bidders for the space of a lustrum, or five 
years.* They likewise received from the senate certain sums 
of money to keep the public buildings, roads, and aqueducts in 
repair,! ^^^ to construct nev? public works in Eome and other 
parts of Italy. Hence we find that many of the great public 
roads, such as the Via Appia and Via Flaminia, were made by 
censors. 

- II. The Senate. — The senate, originally a mere advising body, 
had by this time become the real executive government of Rome, 
and the magistrates, of whom we have been speak- 
ing, were only its ministers. This was the result 
of the inherent weakness of the Roman constitution — the com- 
plete dependence of the comitia on a number of magistrates 
with clashing authority, which rendered popular government 
impossible. The growth of the senate's power was assisted by 
the long wars, in which it proved itself the' most capable 
administrative authority, and its influence was strengthened by 
the mode in which its members were appointed. The senate 
consisted of 300 members, who held the dignity for life unless 
expelled by the censors for reasons already mentioned, but who 
could not transmit the honour to their sons. All vacancies in 
the body were filled up by the censors every five years, as a rule 
from those who had held the qiiaestorship or any higher magis- 
tracy, only in exceptional cases from nominees of their own ; 
and, as the censors were thus practically confined in their selec- 
tion to those who had already received the confidence of the 
people, the great majority of those who entered the senate 
already possessed considerable knowledge of political affairs. 

The power of the senate was very great. It exercised a 
control over legislation, since custom dictated that no law should 
be proposed to the assemblies of the people unless it had first 

* These farmers of the public revenues were called publicani. 

t It is not easy to defioe with accuracy the respective duties of the censors and 
aedlles in relation to tlie public buildings ; but it may be stated in general that 
the superintendence of the aediles was more in the way of police, while that of 
the censors had reference to all financial matters. 



146 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XV11. 

received the approval of the senate. In many cases " Senatus 
Consulta " * came to usurp the place of laws, and there vs^ere some 
spheres of administration in which the senate's right to decide 
without reference to the people was unquestioned. This was 
especially the case in matters affecting finance, the provinces, 
and all foreign relations. It had usurped the direction of finance 
at an early period, and the quaestors were entirely under its 
control. The senate assigned the provinces into which the 
consuls and praetors were to be sent, it prolonged the command 
of a general or superseded him at its pleasure, and on his return 
it granted or refused him a triumph. It determined the manner 
in which a war was to be conducted, and the number of troops 
to be levied ; it alone carried on negotiations with foreign states, 
and all ambassadors were appointed from its own body. 

III. The Popular Assemblies. — 1. The Comitia Ouriatd 

had become a mere form as early as the First Punic War. The 

gradual decline of its power has been already 

Comuia traced. It continued to meet for the transaction 

of certain matters, such as the ratification of the 

imperium, but was represented simply by thirty Hctors. 

2, The constitution of the Comitia Oenturiata, as estabhshed 
by Servius Tullius,t had undergone a great change between the 
. . time of the Licinian Rogations and the Punic 

Oenturiata Wars, the object of which appears to have been 
to give more power and influence to the popular 
element in the state. For this purpose the thirty-five tribes 
were taken as the basis of the new constitution of the centuries. 
Each tribe was divided into five property classes, and each classis 
was subdivided into two centuries, one of seniores and the other 
of jnniores. Each tribe would thus contain ten centuries, and 
consequently the thirty-five tribes would have 350 centuries, so 
that, with the eighteen centuries of the knights, and five centuries 
of smiths, horn-blowers, and capite censi,X the total number of 
the centuries would be 373. 

The Comitia of the Centuries still retained the election of the 
magistrates with imperium, the power of declaring war and 
making peace, and also the highest judicial functions. Accusations 

* A Senatus consultum was so called because the consul or other presiding 
magistrate who brought a matter before the senate was said Senatum consulere. 
t See p. 25. J See p. 24. 



Chap. XVll.] THE ROBIAN CONSTITUTION. 147, 

for treason were brought before the centuries, and appeals against 
capital sentences could be heard only by this body.* 

3. The assembly of the plebs {concilium plehis tributim) 
obtained its superior influence and power mainly through its 
tribunes. The assembly of the whole people by 
tribes {comitia trihuta populi), being summoned ™*^6 two as- 
and presided over by consuls or praetors, was, like ^^j^g tribes 
that of the centuries, to a great extent an instru- 
ment in the hands of the senate. But the plebeian assembly, 
being guided by its own magistrates, and representing the popular 
element, was frequently opposed to the senate, and took an 
active part in. the internal administration of the state. The 
plebiscita of this assembly had the same force as the leges of the 
two assemblies of the populus. There were thus two legal 
sovereigns at Rome, the populus and the plebs, each independent 
of the other ; but this dual control only strengthened the power 
of the actual sovereign, the senate. 

The tribunate had changed its character since its original 
institution, and, though it could still be held only by plebeians, it 
had practically become a magistracy of the state. „, . 
The right of intercession possessed by the tribunes 
was extended to all matters ; thus they could prevent the consuls 
fi-om summoning the senate, and from proposing laws to the 
Comitia of the People. As their persons were sacred, the senate 
could exercise no control over them, while they, on the contrary, 
could seize even a consul or a censor and throw him into prison. 
But this vast power really worked in the interest of the senate ; 
for out of the large college of ten tribunes it was certain that 
one at least could be found to put his veto upon the acts of his 
colleagues or other magistrates. It was, in fact, through the 
tribunate that the senate was able to keep all the magistrates in 
check. 

IV. Finance. — The ordinary expenditure of the Eoman state 
was not large. All the magistrates discharged their duties with- 
out pay ; and the allied troops, which formed so . 
large a portion of a Eoman army, were maintained 
by the allies themselves. The expenses of war were defrayed 
by a property-tax called tributum, which was usually one in a 

* The technical word for this appeal was provocatio. The word appellatio 
signified an appeal from one magistrate to another. 



148 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XVII. 

thousand, or one-tenth per cent., but after the last war with 
Macedonia the treasury received such large sums from the 
provinces that the tributum was abolished. From this time 
the expenses of the state were almost entirely defrayed by the 
taxes levied in the provinces. The other revenues of the state, 
which bore the general name of vectigalia, were common to 
Italy and the provinces. They consisted of the rents arising 
from public lands, forests, mines, salt-works, etc., and of harbour 
dues ; but no direct taxation, and no indirect tax on private 
lands, was imposed on the Italian towns. 

V. The PROvrscES. — The provinces were territorial dis- 
tricts placed under the command of magistrates with iin- 

perium ; those where large military forces were 
provinces, j-gq^j^-g^ ^gj.g generally under proconsuls, the rest 
under propraetors. But it was the cities within the provinces 
rather than the provinces themselves which were the units of 
government. Some of these cities were free and paid no 
tribute, and these were entirely exempt from the governor's 
control. Far the greater part, however, paid tribute, either a 
direct tax (stipendium) paid generally in money, or a proportion 
of their produce {vectigal), such as the tithes collected in Sicily, 
Sardinia, and afterwards in Asia. Over these tributary states 
the governor possessed full criminal and civil jurisdiction, and 
in the winter months went on circuit, holding courts in the lead- 
ing cities of his province. The summer months were, in the 
case of mihtary provinces, usually spent in the camp. When 
it is remembered that none of the restraints on the imperium 
which existed at Eome — such as the veto of a colleague, the 
provocatio to the people, or the control of the senate — were to 
be found in the provinces, it is easy to understand the almost 
regal position held by the governor, and the evil effects of such 
uncontrolled power on the character of most of its possessors. 

VI. The Army. — The Roman army was originally called 
legio; and this name, which is coeval with the foundation of 
_, Rome, continued down to the latest times. The 

'■ legion was, therefore, not equivalent to what we 
call a regiment, inasmuch as it contained troops of all arms, 
infantry, cavalry, and, when military engines were eistensively 
employed, artillery also. The number of soldiers who, at 
different periods, were contained in a legion does not appear to 



Chap. XVII.] THE ROMAN ARMY. 149 

have been absolutely fixed, but to have varied within moderate 
limits. Originally the legion contained 3000 foot-soldiers, and 
from the beginning of the Republic until the second year of the 
Second Punic War the i-egular number may be fixed at 400O 
or 4200 infantry. From the latter period until the consulship 
of Marius the ordinary number was from 5000 to 5200. For 
some centuries after Marius the numbers varied from 5000 to 
6200, generally approaching to the higher limit. Amid all the 
variations with regard to the infantry, 300 horsemen formed 
the regular complement of the legion. The organisation of the 
legion differed at different periods. 

1. First Period. Seruius Tullius. — The legion of Servius is 
so closely connected with the Comitia Centuriata that it has 
already been discussed,* and it is only necessary to state here 
that it was a phalanx equipped in- the Greek fashion, the front 
ranks being furnished with a complete suit of armour, their 
weapons being long spears, and their chief defence the round 
Argolic shield {dipens). 

2. Second Period. The Great Latin War, 340 B.C.— The 
legion in 340 B.C. had almost entirely discarded the tactics of 
the phalanx. It was now drawn up in three lines. The 
soldiers of the first line, called Hastati, consisted of youths in 
the first bloom of manhood, distributed into fifteen companies 
or maniples {manipuli), a moderate space being left between 
each. The maniple contained sixty privates, two centurions 
(centuriones), and a standard-bearer {vexillariua). The second 
line, the Principes, was composed of men in the full vigour of 
life, divided, in like manner, into fifteen maniples, all heavily 
armed. The two lines of the Hastati and Principes taken 
together amounted to thirty maniple, and formed the Antepilani. 
The third line, the Triarii, composed of tried veterans, was also 
in fifteen divisions, but each of these was triple, containing 
three maniples. 

3. Third Period. During the Wars of the younger Scipio. — 
Under ordinary cii'cunistances four legions were levied yearly, 
two being assigned to each consul. But a regular consular 
army no longer consisted of Roman legions only, for, as Italy 
became gradually subjugated, the various states under the 
dominion of Rome were bound to furnish a contingent, and the 

* See p. 24. 



150 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XVII. 

number of allies usually exceeded that of the citizens. They 
were, however, kept perfectly distinct, both in the camp and in 
the battle-field. 

The men belonging to each legion were separated into four 
divisions. 1. 1000 of the youngest and poorest were set apart 
to form the Velites, the light-armed troops or skirmishers of 
the legion. 2. 1200 who came next in age (or who were of the 
same age with the preceding, but more wealthy) formed the 
Hastati. 3. 1200, consisting of those in the full vigour of 
manhood, formed the Principes. 4. 600 of the oldest and most 
experienced formed the Triarii. When the number of soldiers 
in the legion exceeded 4000, the first three divisions were in- 
creased proportionally, but the number of the Triarii remained 
always the same. 

All three classes wore a metal helmet, a leathern shield and 
breastplate, and all bore the shoit two-edged Spanish sword. 
But the Hastati and Principes carried the light 
Armour, and pjlum, which was hurled against the enemy, while 
fiffhtinfi' ^^^ Triarii bore the long hasta, or thrusting-spear. 

The division into maniples was still continued, 
the advantage of this small tactical unit being that it encouraged 
an individual mode of fighting suited to any emergencj^, and 
that, unlike the unwieldy phalanx, it could manoeu\Te on 
uneven ground. The battle opened with the advance of the 
Hastati, who hurled their pila at a distance of ten or twenty 
paces from the enemy, and then charged with the sword. If 
this charge was not decisive, the Principes advanced, the 
Hastati retiring through the divisions between the maniples. 
The Triarii acted as a reserve, to be called out only in the last 
resort. 

Three hundred horse-soldiers were apportioned to each legion, 
divided into ten troops {turmae), out of which three ofScers 
were chosen named decuriones. 

The infantry furnished by the Socii was for the most part 
equal in number to the Roman legions, the cavalry twice or 
thrice as numerous, and botli were divided equally between 
the two consular armies. Eacli consul named twelve superior 
officers, Avho were termed Praefecti Sociorum, and corresponded 
to the Legionary Tribunes. 

4. Fourth Period. From, the times of the Qracchi until the 



Chat. XVII.] THE ROMAN ARMY. 151 

downfall of the Republic* — After the times of the Gracchi 
the following changes in military affairs may be noticed : — In 
the first consulship of Marius the legions were thrown open to 
citizens of all grades, without distinction of fortune. The 
legionaries, when in battle-order, were no longer necessarily 
arranged in three lines, each consisting of ten maniples with 
an open space between each maniple, but sometimes in two, 
sometimes in three lines, each consisting of cohorts, with a 
space between each division. The number of the cohorts, 
which now became the tactical units, was always ten, and, as 
the cohorts were always equal to one another, their strength 
varied with tlie strength of the legion. The younger soldiers 
were no longer placed in the front, but in reserve, the van 
being composed of veterans. As a necessary result of the 
above arrangements, the distinction between Hastati, Principes, 
and Triarii, ceased to exist, and the pilum was now made the 
common weapon of the whole army, the hasta being abolished. 
The skirmishers, included under the general term Levis Armatura, 
consisted for the most part of foreign mercenaries possessing 
peculiar skill in the use of some national weapon, such as the 
Balearic slingers, the Cretan archers (sagittarii), and the 
Moorish dartmen. When operations requiring great activity 
were undertaken, such as could not be performed by mere 
skirmishers, detachments of legionaries were lightly equipped, 
and marched without baggage, for these special services.! The 
cavalry of the legion underwent a change in every respect 
analogous to that which took place with regard to the light- 
armed troops. The Roman eqnites attached to the army were 
very few in number, and were chiefly employed as aides-de- 
camp, and on confidential missions. The bulk of the cavalry 
consisted of foreigners, and hence we find the legions and the 
cavalry spoken of as completely distinct from each other. 
After the termination of the Social "War, when most of th'! 
inhabitants of Italy became Eoman citizens, the ancient 
distinction between the Legionarii and the Socii disappeared, 
and all who had served as Socii became incorporated with the 
legions. 

* We anticipate the course of events in order to give under one view the 
history of the Roman legion. 

t Hence the frequent occurrence of such phrases as expediti, expediti milites, 
expeditae cohortes, and even expeditae legiones. 



152 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XVII. 

In the course of the history the triumphs granted to victorious 
generals have been frequently mentioned, and therefore a brief 

description of them may appropriately close this 
A Koman sketch of the Homan army. A triumph was a 

solemn procession, in which a victorious general 
entered the city in a chariot drawn by four horses. He was 
preceded by the captives and spoils taken in war, was followed 
by his troops, and, after passing in state along the Via Sacra, 
ascended the Capitol to offer sacrifice in the Temple of Jupiter. 
From the beginning of the Republic down to the extinction of 
liberty, a triumph was recognized as the summit of military 
glory, and was the cherished object of ambition to every Roman 
general. After any decisive battle had been won, or a province 
subdued by a series of successful operations, the general for- 
warded to the senate a laui el-wreathed despatch containing an 
account of his exploits. If the intelligence proved satisfactory, 
the senate decreed a public thanksgiving.* After the war was 
concluded, the general with his army repaired to Rome, or 
ordered his army to meet him there on a given day, but did 
not enter the city. A meeting of the senate was held without 
the walls, that he might have an opportunity of urging his 
pretensions in person, and these were then scrutinized and 
discussed with the most jealous care. If the senate gave their 
consent, they voted a sum of money towards defraying the 
necessary expenses, and at the same time, if the general was a 
city magistrate such as a consul, recognized the full military 
imperium, which ceased at the gates of Rome, as vested in 
him for the single day. If, on the other hand, the triumphing 
general was only a pro-magistrate, one of the tribunes applied 
for a plebiscitum to enable him to hold the imperium for the 
single day; for such a commander possessed no imperium at 
all within the walls, and a special enactment was in this case 
necessary to render the military pageant possible. 
• Called supplicatio. 




Sclpio Africanus. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



INTERNAL HISTOKY OF ROME DrRING THE MACEDONIAN AND 
SYRIAN WARS. CATO AND SCIPIO. 

The conquests of the Romans in the East had exercised a most 
pernicious influence upon the national character. Tliey were 
originally a hardy, industrious, and religious race. Effects of 
distinguished by unbending integrity and love of Eastern con- 
order. They lived with great frugality upon their quests on 
small farms, which they cultivated with their ^o™^' 
own hands. But they were stern and somewhat cruel", and 
cared little or nothing for literature and the arts. Upon such 
a people the sudden acquisition of wealth produced its natural 
effects. They employed it in the gratification of their appetites, 



154 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XVIH. 

and in coarse sensual pleasures. Some of the Roman nobles, 
such as Scipio Africainis, Flamininus (the conqueror of Phili])), 
and others, acquired a love for Greek literature and art. But 
the great mass of the nation imitated only the. vices of the 
Greeks. Cooks, who had formerly been the cheapest kind of 
slaves at Rome, now became the most valuable. A love of 
luxury and a general depravity gradually spread through all 
classes of society. 

A striking instance of the growing licentiousness of the times 
was brought to light in 186 B.C. It was discovered that the 
■o y, y worship of Bacchus had been introduced from 
co^nspJacyr^ Southern Italy into Rome and other towns, and 
that secret societies were formed, which, under 
the cloak of this worship, indulged in the most abominable vices. 
A stringent inquiry was made into these practices ; the most 
guilty were put to death ; and a decree of the senate was 
passed, forbidding the worship of Bacchus in Rome and through- 
out Italy. 

The increasing love of gladiatorial combats, the gratification 
of which was now rendered possible by the new wealth of the 
state, was an indication of the gloomier side of 
CHadiatonal Roman character. These cruel sports are said 
to have taken their origin from the Etruscans, 
who were accustomed to kill slaves and captives at the funerals 
of their relatives. They were first exhibited at Rome in the 
beginning of the First Punic War (264 B.C.). At first confined 
to funerals, they were afterwards exhibited by the aediles at 
the public games, with the view of pleasing the people. The 
passion for this brutalizing amusement rose to a great height 
towards the end of the Republic and under the Empire. Great 
pains were taken with the training of gladiators, who were 
divided into different classes according to their arms and modes 
of fighting. 

Among many other important consequences of these foreign 
wars two which exercised an especial influence upon the future 
fate of the Republic, were the rise of a new 
Eise of a new jiQijiij^y and the disappearance of the peasant 
^'^ ^ ^' proprietors. The nobles became enormously 

rich, and the peasant proprietors almost entirely disappeared. 
This new nobility rested largely on wealth, and was composed 



Chap. XVIII.] EFJj'ECTS OF THE LOJS^G WARS. 155 

alike of plebeian and patrician families; but it soon became 
hereditary. Every one whose ancestry had not held any of the 
curule magistracies * was called a New Man, and was branded 
as an upstart.f It became more and more difficult for a New 
Man to rise to office ; and thus an aristocracy (hereditary but with- 
out primogeniture) was found in the exclusive possession of the 
government. The wealth its members had acquired in foreign 
commands enabled them not only to incur a prodigious expense 
in the celebration of the public games in their aedileship, with 
the view of gaining the votes of the people at future elections, 
but also to spend large suras of money in the actual purchase of 
votes. The first law against bribery J was passed in 181 B.C., a 
sure proof of the growth of the practice. 

The decay of the peasant proprietors was an inevitable conse- 
quence of these frequent and long-protracted wars. In the 
earlier times the citizen - soldier, after a few 
weeks' campaign, returned home to cultivate his ^^•'^.y of 
land ; but this became impossible when wars nrietors 
were carried on out of Italy. Moreover, the 
soldier, easily obtaining abundance of booty, found life in the 
camp more pleasant than the cultivation of the ground. He 
was thus as ready to sell his land as the nobles were anxious to 
buy it. But money acquired by plunder is soon squandered. 
The soldier, returning to Rome, swelled the ranks of the poor, 
and thus, while the nobles became richer and richer, the lower 
classes became poorer and poorer. In consequence of the 
institution of slavery there was little or no demand for free 
labour ; and, as prisoners taken in war were sold as slaves, the 
slave-market was always well suppHed. The estates of the 
wealthy were cultivated by large gangs of slaves ; and even 
the mechanical arts which give employment to such large 
numbers in the modern towns of Europe, were practised in the 

* See p. 142. 

t Thp Nohiles were distinguislied from the Igndbiles. The outward distinction 
of the former was the Jus Imaginuni These imagines were painted maslcs of 
wax, representing the ancestors who had held any of the curule magistracies. 
They were placed on busts in cases in the atrium or reception-hall of the house, 
and were carried in the funeral procession of a member of the family. Any one 
who first obtained a curule magistracy became the founder of the nobility of his 
family. Such a person was himself neither a nobilis nor an ignohilis. He was 
termed a JVovus Homo, or a Nen' Man. 

I The Latin word for bribery is ambitus, literally canvassing. It must not be 
confounded with repet.undae, the offence of extortion or pecuniary corruption 
committed by magisiratts in the provinces or at Rome. 



156 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XVIII. 

main by slaves or freedmen. The poor at Rome were thus 
left almost without resources; their votes in the popular 
assembly were nearly the only thing they could turn into 
money ; and it is therefore not surprising that they were ready 
to sell them to the highest bidder. 

Many distinguished men saw with deep regret the old Roman 
virtues disappearing, and strove vigorously against these corrup- 
_ tions of the national character. Of this party the 

most conspicuous member was M. Porcius Cato, 
who set himself up as a type of the old Roman character. He 
was born at Tusculum in 234 B.C. When a young man the 
death of his father put him in possession of a small hereditary 
estate in the Sabine territory, at a distance from his native town. 
It was here that he had passed the greater part of his early 
youth, hardening his body by healthful exercise, and super- 
intending and sharing the operations of the farm. Near his 
estate was a humble cottage, which had been tenanted, after 
three triumphs, by its owner, M. Curius Dentatus, whose war- 
like exploits and simple character were often talked of with 
admiration in the neighbourhood. The ardour of the youthful 
Cato was kindled. He resolved to imitate the character, and 
hoped to rival the glory, of Dentatus. Opportunity was not 
wanting. He took his first nsiitary lessons in the campaigns 
against Hannibal, and gained the favour and friendship of 
Fabius Maximus. He was also patronized by L. Valerius 
Flaccus, a Roman noble in his neighbourhood, and a warm 
supporter of the old Roman manners, who had observed Cato's 
eloquence, as well as his martial spirit. Encouraged by Fabius 
and Flaccus, Cato became a candidate for office, and was 
elected quaestor in 204 B.C. He followed P. Scipio Africanus 
to Sicily, but there was not that cordiality of co-operation 
between Cato and Scipio which was supposed to subsist between 
a quaestor and his proconsul. Fabius had opf)Osed the per- 
mission given to Scipio to carry the attack into the enemy's 
home, and Cato, whose appointment was intended to operate as 
a check upon Scipio, adopted the views of h's friend. Cato 
was praetor in Sardinia in 198 B.C., where he took the earliest 
opportunity of illustrating his principles by his practice. He 
diminished official expenses, walked his circuits with a single 
attendant, administered justice with strict impartiality, and 



Chap. XVIII.J CATO'S CONSULSHIP. 157 

restrained usury with unsparing severity. He had now established 
a reputation for pure morality and strict old-fashioned virtue, 
and was looked upon as the living type and representative of 
the ideal ancient Roman. To the advancement of such a man 
opposition was vain. In 195 b.c. he was elected consul with 
his old friend and patron L. Valerius Flaccus. 

During his consulship a strange scene took place peculiarly 
illustrative of Roman manners. In 215 B.C., at the height of 
the Punic War, a law had been passed, proposed 
by the Tribune Oppius, that no woman should J^^^q^ ^a^^^ 
possess more than half an ounce of gold, nor 
wear a garment of divers colours, nor drive a carriage with 
horses within a mile of the city, except for the purpose of 
attending the public celebration of religious rites. Now that 
Hannibal was conquered, and Rome abounded with Carthaginian 
wealth, there appeared to be no longer any necessity for women 
to contribute towards the exigencies of an impoverished treasury 
the savings spared from their ornaments and pleasures, and two 
tribunes thought it time to propose the abolition of the Oppian 
law; but they were opposed by two of their colleagues. The 
most important afifaii's of state excited far less interest and 
zeal than this singular contest. The matrons blockaded every 
avenue to the forum, and intercepted their husbands as they 
approached, beseeching them to restore the ancient ornaments of 
the Roman matrons. Even Flaccus wavered, but his colleague 
Cato was inexorable. Finallj'^, the women carried the day. 
Worn out by their importunity, the two tribunes withdrew 
their opposition, and the hated law was abolished by the suffrage 
of the tribes. 

Cato's campaign in Spain during his consulship, which added 
greatly to his military reputation, has been already related. He 
afterwards served in Greece under M'. Glabrio, where he distin- 
guished himself at the battle of Thermopylae fought against 
Antiochus (191 B.C.). 

The victory of Zama had made P. Scipio Africanus the first 
man in the Republic, and for a time silenced all his enemies. 
They might have remained silenced, had Scipio _ . . 
known how to endure prosperity ; but his obvious 
consciousness of his superiority invited attack from his old 
enemies, headed by Fabius, and supported by Cato. After the 



158 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XVIII. 

return of P. Scipio and liis brother Lucius from the war against 
Antiochus, they were charged with having been bribed to give 
favourable terms to the king, and of having appropriated to 
their own use a portion of the money which had been paid by 
Antiochus to the Roman state. 

The first blow was directed against Lucius. At the instiga- 
tion of Cato, the two Petillii, " Tribunes of the people," required 
him to render an account of all sums of money 
Attack on tlie ^y^j^ j^g j^^d received from Antiochus. Lucius 
prepared his accounts, but, as he was in the act 
of delivering them up, his brother indignantly snatched them 
from his hands, and tore them in pieces, saying "it was un- 
worthy to call to account for a few thousands a man who had 
paid millions into the treasury." But this act of insolence 
appears to have produced an unfavourable impression, and his 
brother, when brought to trial in the course of the same year, 
was declared guilty, and sentenced to pay a heavy fine. The 
tribune ordered him to be dragged to prison, and there detained 
till security was furnished for the payment of the fine; where- 
upon Africanus, still more enraged at this fresh insult to his 
family, rescued his brother from the hands of the tribune's 
officer, and thus committed an act of treason. The contest 
would probably have been attended with fatal results had not 
the tribune, Tib. Gracchus, the father of the celebrated 
reformer, had the prudence, although he disapproved of the 
violent conduct of Africanus, to release his brother Lucius from 
the sentence of imprisonment. 

The successful issue of the prosecution of Lucius emboldened 
his enemies to bring the great Africanus himself before the people. 
His accuser was the Tribune M. Naevius. When the trial came 
on, Scipio did not condescend to say a single word in refutation 
of the charges that had been brought against him, but descanted 
long and eloquently upon the signal services he had rendered to 
the commonwealth. Having spoken till nightfall, the trial was 
adjourned till the following day. Early next morning, when the 
tribunes had taken their seats on the rostra, and Africanus was 
summoned, he contented himself with reminding the people that 
this was the anniversary of the day on which he had defeated 
Hannibal at Zama, and called upon them to neglect all disputes 
and lawsuits, and follow him to the Capitol, there to return 



Chap. XVllI.] DEATH OF SCIPIO AND HANNIBAL. 159 

thanks to the immortal gods, and pray that they would grant the 
Roman state other citizens like himself. Scipio struck a chord 
which vibrated in every heart ; their veneration for the hero 
returned ; and he was followed by such crowds to the Capitol, 
that the tribunes were left alone in the rostra. 

Satisfied with this triumph over the laws of his countrj^ Scipio 
quitted Rome, and retired to his country-seat at Liternum. The 
tribunes wished to renew the prosecution, but 
Gracchus wisely persuaded them to let it drop. , ' t> me 
There was no room in Rome for a man like Scipio 
Africanus ; he would neither submit to the laws nor aspire to the 
sovereignty of the state : and he therefore resolved to expatriate 
himself for ever. He passed his remaining days in the cultiva- 
tion of his estate at Liternum ; and at his death is said to have 
requested that his body might be buried there, and not in his 
ungrateful country (183 B.C.). 

Hannibal perished in the same year as his great opponent. 
Scipio was the only member of the senate who opposed the 
unworth)^ persecution which the Romans employed 
against their once dreaded foe. Each of these ^^ -^ , 
great men, possessing true nobility of soul, could 
appreciate the other's merits. A story is told that Scipio was 
one of the ambassadors sent to Antiochus at Ephesus, at whose 
court Hannibal was then residing, and that he there had an 
interview with the great Carthaginian, who half seriously 
declared him the greatest general that ever lived. Scipio had 
asked, " Who was the greatest general ? " " Alexander the 
Great," was Hannibal's reply. "Who was the second?" 
"Pyrrhus." "Who the third?" "Myself," replied the Car- 
thaginian. "What would you have said then, if you had 
conquered me ? " asked Scipio in astonishment. " I should 
then have placed myself above Alexander, Pyrrhus, and all 
other generals." 

After the defeat of Antiochus, Hannibal, as we have already 
seen, took up his abode with Prusias, king of Bithynia, and there 
found for some years a secure asylum. But the Romans could 
not rest so long as their old enemy remained alive ; and T. 
Flamininus was at length despatched to the court of Prusias 
to demand the surrender of the fugitive. The Bithynian king 
was unable to resist; but Hannibal, who had long been in 



160 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XVIII. 

expectation of such an event, took poison to avoid falling into 
the hands of his implacable foes. 

The censorship had always been the organ for the expression 
of conservative opinion at Eome, and Cato's tenure of this oifice 

(184 B.C.) marked an epoch in his life. Eeckless 
Cato's censor- ^^ ^j^^ enemies he was making, he applied himself 

strenuous.y to reform. He repaired the water- 
courses, paved the reservoirs, cleansed the drains, raised the 
rents paid by the publican! for farming the taxes, and beat down 
the prices for the public contracts which they undertook. He 
attacked at once the capitalist class, which, represented by the 
equites, had now become a power, and the vicious members of 
the new nobility. His position as censor enabled him to check 
luxury by levying a heavy tax on costly and useless articles ; 
and he cleansed the senate by the expulsion of worthless 
members, without regard to rank or name. 

The strong national prejudices of Cato appear to have diminished 
in force as he grew older and wiser. He applied himself in old age 

to the study of Greek literature, with which in 
His attitude youth he had no acquaintance, although he was 
cult re^^^ not ignorant of the Greek language. Himself an 

historian and orator, the excellences of Demos- 
thenes and Thucydides made a deep impression upon his kindred 
mind. But throughout life his conduct was guided by prejudices 
against classes and nations whose influence he deemed to be 
hostile to the simplicity of the old Eoman character. When 
Eumenes, king of Pergamus, visited Rome after the war with 
Antiochus, and was received with honour by the senate, and 
splendidly entertained by the nobles, Cato was indignant at the 
respect paid to the monarch, refused to go near him, and 
declared that " kings were naturally carnivorous animals." He 
had an antipathjr to physicians, because they were mostly Greeks, 
and therefore unfit to be trusted with Roman lives. He loudly 
cautioned his eldest son against them, and dispensed with their 
attendance. When Athens sent three celebrated philosophers, 
Carneades, Diogenes, and Critolaus, to Rome, in order to negotiate 
a remission of the 500 talents which the Athenians had been 
awarded to pay to the Oropians, Carneades excited great atten- 
tion by his philosophical conversation and lectures, in which he 
preached the pernicious doctrine of an expediency distinct from 



Chap. XVIII.] CATO. 161 

justice, which he illustrated by the example of Rome herself: 
" If Rome were stripped of all that she did not justly gain, the 
Romans might go back to their huts." Cato, offended with his 
principles, and jealous of the attention paid to the Greek, gave 
advice which the senate followed : " Let these deputies have 
an answer, and a polite dismissal as soon as possible." 

But the spirit which rejected Greek cultm-e also scorned Greek 
humanism, and Cato the " old Roman " was an unfeeling and 
cruel master. His conduct towards his slaves was detestable. 
The law held them to be mere chattels, and he treated them as 
such, without any regard to the rights of humanity. After supper 
he often severely chastised them, thong in hand, for trifling acts 
of negligence, and sometimes condemned them to death. When 
they were worn out, or useless, he sold them, or turned them 
out of doors. He treated the lower animals no better. His war- 
horse, which bore him through his campaign in Spain, he sold 
before he left the country, that the state might not be charged 
with the expenses of its transport. As years advanced he sought 
gain with increasing eagerness, but never attempted to profit by 
tlie misuse of his public functions. He accepted no bribes ; he 
reserved no booty to his own use ; but he became a speculator, 
not only in slaves, but in buildings, artificial waters, and pleasure- 
grounds. In this, as in other points, he was a representative of 
the old Komans, who were a money-getting and money-loving 
people. 




Head of Perseus. From a gem in the British Museum, 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE THIRD MACEDONIAN, ACHAEAN, AND THIKD PUNIC WARS. 
179-146 B.C. 

The Roman senate may have thought that, with an empire in 
the West and a protectorate over the East, the power of Rome 
_ was for a time consolidated. But a movement 

now began, the final issue of which was to extend 
far more widely the hmits of imperial rule. Rome had really 
no hold over the irresponsible despots whom she still permitted 
to exist in the Eastern world, and the actions of the Macedonian 
kmg soon attracted her suspicions. The latter years of the 
reign of Philip had been spent in preparations for a renewal 
of war ; and when, in 179 b.c, his son Perseus ascended the 
throne, he found himself amply provided with men and money 
for the impending contest. But, whether from a sincere desire 
of peace, or from irresolution of character, he sought to avert 
an open rupture as long as possible, and one of the first acts 
of his reign was to obtain from the Romans a renewal of the 
treaty which they had concluded with his father. It is probable 
that neither party was sincere in the conclusion of this peace, 
at least neither could entertain any hope of its duration; yet 
a period of seven years elapsed before the mutual enmity of 
the two powers broke out into open hostilities. Meanwhile, 
Perseus was not idle ; he secured the attachment of his subjects 
by equitable and popular measures, and formed alliances not 



Chap. XIX.] THIRD MACEDONIAN WAR. 163 

only with the Greeks and the Asiatic princes, but also with 
the Thracian, Illyrian, and Celtic tribes which surrounded his 
dominions. The Romans naturally viewed these proceedings 
with jealousy and suspicion ; and at length, in 172, Perseus 
was formally accused before the Roman senate, by Eumenes, 
king of Pergamus, in person, of entertaining hostile designs 
against the Roman power. The attempt to murder Eumenes 
near Delphi, on his return homewards, of which Perseus was 
suspected, aggravated the feeling against him at Rome, and in 
the following year war was declared. 

Perseus was at the head of a numerous and well-appointed 
army, but of all his allies, only Cotys, king of the Odrysians, 
ventured to support him against so formidable a^ mi^- j -lyr 
foe. Yet the war was protracted three years j_j,:„j, w-j. 
without any decisive result ; nay, the balance 
of success seemed on the whole to incline in favour of Perseus, 
and many states, which before were wavering, now showed 
a disposition to join his cause. But his ill-timed parsimony 
restrained him from taking advantage of their offers, and in 
168 B.C. the arrival of the Consul L. Aemilius Paullus com- 
pletely changed the aspect of affairs. 

Perseus was driven from a strong position which he had taken 
up on the banks of the Enipeus, forced to retreat to Pydna, and, 
finally, to accept an engagement near that town. 
At first the serried ranks of the phalanx seemed p •, ^ ** 
to promise superiority ; but its order having been 
broken by the inequalities of the ground, the Roman legionaries 
penetrated the disordered mass, and committed fearful carnage, 
to the extent, it is said, of 20,000 men. Perseus fled first to 
Pella, then to Amphipolis, and finally to the sanctuary of the 
sacred island of Samothrace, but was at length obliged to 
surrender himself to a Roman squadron. He was treated with 
courtesy,but was reserved to adorn the triumph of his conqueror. 

Such was the ending of tfie Macedonian empire ; but the 
Romans did not annex the territory, although they imposed, as 
a tribute, one-half of the land-tax that had been 
formerly paid to the Macedonian kings. The Downfall of 
senate decreed that Macedonia should be divided Macedonian 
into four independent districts, each under the °^°'^*^'' y* 
jurisdiction of an oligarchical council. 



164 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XIX. 

Before leaving Greece, Paullus was commanded by the senate 
to inflict a terrible punishtiient upon the Epirotes, because they 
had favoured Perseus. Having placed garrisons 
ipirus ^ ^j^g seventy towns of Epirus, he razed them 

all to the ground in one day, and carried away 
150,000 inhabitants as slaves. Epirus never recovered from 
this blow. In the time of Augustus the country was still a 
scene of desolation, and the inhabitants had only ruins and 
villages to dwell in. 

Paullus arrived in Italy towards the close of 167 B.C. The 
booty which he brought with him from Macedonia, and which 
he paid into the Roman treasury, was of enormous value ; and 
his triumph, which lasted three days, was the most splendid 
that Rome had yet seen. Before his triumphal car walked the 
captive monarch of Macedonia, and behind it, on horseback, 
were his two eldest sons, Q. Fabius Maximus and P. Scipio 
Africanus the younger, both of whom had been adopted into 
other families. But his glory was darkened by the death of his 
two younger sons, one dying a few days before, and the other a 
few days after, his triumph. 

After the triumph Perseus was thrown into a dungeon, but, 
in consequence of the intercession of Paullus, he was released 
and permitted to end his days in an honourable caplivity at Alba. 
His son Alexander learned the Latin language, uad earned a 
living as a public clerk in Italy. 

The fall of the Macedonian monarchy made Rome the real 

mistress of the eastern shores of the Mediterra,uean. The most 

haught^^ monarchs trembled before the Republic. 

Relations Antioc'hus Epiphanes had invaded Egypt, and 

with Eastern i- at a- \ v. * 

was marchmg upon Alexandria, when he was met 

by three Roman commissioners, who presented 
him with a decree of the senate, commanding him to abbtain 
from hostilities against Egypt. The king, having read the 
decree, promised to take it into consideration with his friends, 
whereupon Popillius, one of the Roman commissioners, stepping 
forward, drew a circle round the king with his staff, and told 
him that he should not stir out of it till he had given a decisive 
answer. The Ising was so frightened by this boldness that he 
immediately promised to withdraw his troops. Eumenes, b'ng 
of Pergamus, whose conduct during the war with Perseus had 



Chap, XIX.] CONTROL OP ACHAEAN LEAGUE. 165 

excited the suspicion of the senate, hastened to make his sub- 
mission in person, but was not allowed to enter Rome. Prasias, 
king of Bithynia, had the meanness to appear at Rome with 
his head shaven, and in the dress of a liberated slave. The 
Rhodians, who had offered their mediation during the war with 
Perseus, were deprived of Lycia and Caria. 

The immediate question was whether the cities of Greece 
should be allowed to maintain their troublesome independence. 
Annexation was not immediately resolved on, and 
Rome contented herself with working through Control of 
a party favourable to her interests in the cities, i„^„„g 
especially through Callicrates, a man of great 
influence among the Achaeans, who, for many years, had acted 
as the tool of the Roman government. He now denounced 
more than a thousand Achaeans as having favoured the cause 
of Perseus. Among them were the historian Polybius, and the 
most distinguished men in every city of the league. They were 
all seized and sent to Italy ; but, without any judicial investiga- 
tion, they were kept as hostages and distributed among the 
cities of Etraria. Pol^'bius alone was allowed to reside at Rome 
in the house of Aemilius Paullus, where he became the intimate 
friend of his son Scipio Africanus the younger. The Achaean 
League continued to exist, but it was really subject to Callicrates. 
The Achaean exiles languished in confinement for seventeen 
years. Their request to be allowed to return to their native 
land had been more than once refused ; but the younger Scipio 
Africanus at length interceded on their behalf, and prevailed 
upon Cato to advocate their return. The conduct of the aged 
senator was kinder than his words. He did not interpose till 
the end of a long debate, and then simply asked, " Have we 
nothing better to do than to sit here all day long debating 
whether a parcel of worn-out Greeks shall be carried to their 
graves here or in Achaia ? " A decree of the senate gave the 
required permission ; but when Polybius was anxious to obtain 
from the senate restoration to their former honours, Cato bade 
him, with a smile, beware of returning to the Cyclops' den to 
fetch away any trifles he had left behind him. 

The Achaean exiles, whose numbers were now reduced from 
1000 to 300, landed in Greece (150 b.c.) with feelings ex- 
asperated by their long confinement, and ready to indulge in 



166 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XIX. 

any rash enterprise against Eome. Pol^bius, who had returned 
with the other exiles, in vain exhorted them to peace and 
unanimit}^, and to avoid a hopeless struggle with 
evoit ^YiQ Eoman power. Shortly afterwards an adven- 

turer laid claim to the throne of Macedonia 
(149 B.C.). He was a man of low origin called Andriscus, but 
he pretended to be the son of Perseus, and assumed the name 
of Philippus. At first he met with some success, and defeated 
the Roman praetor Juventius ; but, after reigning scarcely a 
year, he was conquered and taken pi'isoner by Q. Metellus. 

The temporary success of Andriscus had encouraged the war- 
party in the Achaean League. Polybius had quitted the country 
to join his friend Scipio in Africa ; and Diaeus and Critolaiis, the 
most violent enemies of Rome, had now undisputed sway in the 
league. Diaeus incited the Achaeans to attack Sparta, on the 
ground that, instead of appeahng to the league respecting a 
boundary question, as they ought to have done, they had violated 
its laws by sending a private* embassy to Rome. The Spartans, 
feeling themselves incompetent to resist this attack, appealed to 
the Romans for assistance; and in 147 B.C. two Roman com- 
missioners were sent to Greece to settle these disputes. The 
commissioners decided that not only Sparta, but Corinth, and all 
the cities recently acquired, should be restored to independence. 
Serious riots broke out at Corinth, where the Diet was assembled ; 
all the Spartans in the town were seized, and even the Roman 
commissioners narrowly escaped violence. On their return to 
Rome a fresh embassy was despatched to demand satisfaction for 
these outrages. 

But the violent and impolitic conduct of Critolaus, then stra- 

tegus of the league, rendered all attempts at accommodation 

fruitless, and, after the return of the ambassadors, 

e c aean ^^^^ senate declared war against the league. The 
cowardice and in'^ompetence of Critolaus as a 
general were only equalled by his previous insolence. On the 
approach of the Romans from Macedonia under Metellus, he did 
not even venture to make a stand at Thermopylae ; and, being 
overtaken by them near Scarphea in Locris, he was totally 
defeated, and never again heard of. Diaeus, who succeeded 
him as strategus, displayed rather more energy and courage, and 
made preparatioQS to defend Corinth. Metellus had hoped to 



Chap. XIX.] PROVINCE OF MACEDONIA AND ACHAEA. 167 

have had the honour of bringing the war to a conclusion, and 
had almost reached Corinth when the Consul L. Mummius landed 
on the isthmus and assumed the command. The struggle was 
soon brought to a close. Diaeus was defeated in battle ; and 
Corinth was immediately evacuated, not only by the troops of 
the league, but also by the greater part of the inhabitants. 

On entering the city Mummius put to the sword the few males 
who remained ; by orders from the government he sold the 
women and children as slaves ; and, having carried 
away all its treasures, consigned the city to the of Cor^nth" 
flames (146 B.C.). Corinth was filled with master- 
pieces of ancient art ; and Mummius, with an indistinct apprecia- 
tion of their worth, stipulated with those who contracted to convey 
them to Italy, that, if any were lost in the passage, they should 
be replaced by others of equal value ! He then employed him- 
self in regulating the whole of Greece ; and ten commissioners 
were sent from Eome to settle its future condition. 

The whole country, to the borders of Macedonia and Epirus, 
was formed into one district, under the name of Achaea, derived 
from that confederacy which had made the last 
struggle for pohtical existence, but was united with fjo^^ce of 
Macedonia as a single province, and the inde- ^^^^ Achaea 
pendent history of Greece was at an end. 

Carthage, so long the rival of Rome, had fallen in the same 
year as Corinth. The reforms introduced by Hannibal after the 
battle of Zama had restored some degi'ee of prosperity to the 
state ; and, though the Roman party obtained the supremacy 
after he had been compelled to fly to Antiochus, the commercial 
activity of the Carthaginians restored to the city much of its 
former influence. Rome looked with a jealous eye upon its 
reviving power, and encouraged Masinissa to make repeated 
aggressions upon its territory. 

At length the popular party, having obtained more weight in 
the government, made a stand against these repeated encroach- 
ments of Numidia. Thereupon Cato recom- q^^^q urges 
mended an instant declaration of war against the destruc- 
Carthage ; but this met with considerable opposi- tion of Car- 
tion in the senate, and it was at length aiTanged ^'^^S^- 
that an embassy should be sent to Africa to gain information as 
to the real state of affairs. The ten ambassadors, of whom Cato 



168 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XIX. 

was the chief, offered then- arbitration, which was accepted by 
Masinissa, but rejected by the Carthaginians, who had no con- 
fidence in Roman justice. The deputies accurately observed the 
warhke preparations and the defences of the frontier. They 
then entered the city, and saw the strength and population it 
had acquired since the Second Punic War. Upon their return 
Cato was the foremost in asserting that Rome would never be 
safe as long as Carthage was so powerful, so hostile, and so 
near. One day he drew a bunch of early ripe figs from beneath 
his robe, and, throwing it upon the floor of the senate-house, 
said to the astonished fathers, " Those figs were gathered but 
three days ago at Carthage ; so close is our enemy to onr walls." 
From that time forth, whenever he was called upon for his vote 
in the senate, whatever the subject of debate might be, his 
closing words were, " Delenda est Carthago " — " Carthage must 
be destroyed." * 

Cato's opinion prevailed, and the senate only waited for a 
favourable opportunity to destroy the city. This soon occurred. 

The popular party having driven into exile the 
pretexts powerful partisans of Masinissa, the old Numidian 

king invaded the Carthaginian territory, and de- 
feated the army which had been raised to oppose him (151 B.C.). 
This led to a change in the government, and the aristocratical 
party, once more restored to power, hastened to make their sub- 
mission to Rome. But the Romans had resolved upon war ; and, 
when the Carthaginian ambassadors arrived at Rome, the two 
consuls were already levying troops. The ambassadors, knowing 
that resistance was hopeless, sought to appease the anger of the 
senate by unconditional obedience. They were ordered to send 
300 youths of the noblest families to meet the consuls at Lily- 
baeum, and were told that the consuls would acquaint them with 
the further orders of the senate. At Lilybaeum the consuls 
found the hostages awaiting them, and then promised the 
Carthaginian envoys that the decision of the senate should 
be announced to them in Africa. Upon reaching Utica, 
which surrendered to them in despair, the consuls informed the 

* This story appears a strange one until we remember that it was a custom 
for Roman senators, when called upon for their votes, to express — no matter what 
the question — any opinion which they deemed of creat importance to the welfare 
of the state. It was, in fact, the only way iu which the inejividuftl senator could 
gain the right of initiatiye. 



Chap. XIX.] THIRD PUNIC WAR. 169 

Carthaginians that, as their state would henceforth be under the 
protection of Rome, they had no longer any occasion for arms, 
and must surrender all the munitions of war. Even this demand 
was complied with; and the Roman commissioners who were 
sent to Carthage brought to the Roman camp 200,000 stands of 
arms, and 2000 catapults. The consuls, thinking that the state 
was now defenceless, threw off the mask, and announced the 
final resolution of the senate : " That Carthage must be destroyed, 
and that its inhabitants must build another city ten miles distant 
from the coast." 

When this terrible news reached Carthage, despair and rage 
seized all the citizens. They resolved to perish rather than 
submit to so perfidious a foe. All the Italians _,, . , ^ . 
within the walls were massacred ; the members ^ 
of the former government took to flight, and the 
popular party once more obtained the power. Almost super- 
human efforts were made to obtain means of defence ; corn was 
collected from every quarter ; arms were manufactured day and 
night ; the women cut off their long hair to be made into strings 
for the catapults, and the whole city became one vast workshop. 
The consuls now saw that it would be necessary to have recourse 
to force ; but they had no military ability, and their attacks were 
repulsed with great loss. The j'oimger Scipio Africanus, who 
was then serving in the army as military tribune, displayed great 
bravery and military skill, and, on one occasion, saved the army 
from destruction. Still no permanent success was gained, and 
Scipio returned to Rome, accompanied by the prayers of the 
soldiers that he would come back as their commander. In the 
following year (148 B.C.) the new Consul L. Calpurnius Piso was 
even less successful than his predecessors. The soldiers became 
discontented ; the Roman senate and people, who had anticipated 
an easy conquest, were indignant at their disappointment, and 
all eyes were turned to Scipio. Accordingly, when he became 
a candidate for the aedileship for the ensuing year (147 B.C.), 
he was elected consul, tbough he was only thirty-seven years 
old, and had not therefore altaiued the legal age for the 
office. 

This remarkable man was, as we have already said, the son 
of L. Aemilius Paullus, the conqueror of Macedonia. He was 
adopted by P. Scipio, the son of the great Africanus, and is 



170 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XIX. 

therefore called Scipio Africanus Minor, to distinguish him from 

his grandfather by adoption. To these names that of Aemilianus 

is sometimes added to mark the family of his birth, 

^^\^^™„„ ^ so that his full designation was P. Cornelius Scipio 

younger. -i- • • 

Africanus Aemilianus. His intimacy with the 

historian Polybius has been already mentioned. He appears 
from his earhest years to have devoted himself with ardour to the 
study of literature ; and he eagerly availed himself of the superior 
knowledge of Polybius to direct him in his literary pursuits. He 
was accompanied by the Greek historian in almost all his cam- 
paigns, and, in the midst of his most active military duties, lost 
no opportunity of enlarging his knowledge of Greek literature 
and philosophy by constant intercourse with his friend. Nor did 
he neglect the literature of his own country, for Terence was 
admitted to his intimacy, and he is even said to have assisted hira 
in the composition of his comedies. His friendship with Laelius, 
whose tastes and pursuits were so congenial to his own, has 
been immortalized by Cicero's celebrated treatise " On Friend- 
ship." 

Scipio landed in Africa in 147 B.C. His first step was to restore 
discipline to the army. He next took by storm Megara, a suburb 
of Carthage, and then proceeded to construct a 
Si3ge or work across the entrance of the harbour to cut 

° ' off the city from all supplies by sea. But the Car- 

thaginians defended themselves with a courage and an energy 
rarely paralleled in history. While Scipio was engaged in this 
laborious task, they built a fleet of fifty ships in their inner port, 
and cut a new channel communicating with the sea. Hence, 
when Scipio at length succeeded in blocking up the entrance of 
the harbour, he found all his labour useless, as the Carthaginians 
sailed out to sea by the new outlet. But this fleet was destroyed 
after an obstinate engagement which lasted three days. At 
length, in the following year (146 B.C.), Scipio had made all his 
preparations for the final assault. The Carthaginians defended 
themselves with the courage of despair. They fought from 
street to street, and from house to house, and the work of 
destruction and butchery went on for six days. The fate of 
this once magnificent city moved Scipio to tears, and, antici- 
pating that a similar catastrophe might one day befall Rome, he 
lis said to have repeated the lines of the " Iliad " over the flames 



Chap. XIX.] DESTKUCTION OF CARTHAGE. 



171 



of Carthage : " The day shall come -when sacred Troy shall 
perish, and Priana and his people shall be slain." 



A. Inner Harbour. 

B, Outer or Merchants H: 
C^Scipio's Mole. 

D. Outer Wall. 

E. Inner fortifications 
round Citadel. 

F. Scipio's Cnjnp. 




Pl an of Cartha ge 

Roman Miles 



Scipio returned to Rome in the same year, and celebrated a 
splendid triumph on account of his victory. The surname of 
Africanus, which he had inherited by adoption, had now been 
acquired by his own exploits. 

A portion of the Carthaginian dominions was assigned to Utica. 
The remainder was formed into a Roman province under the 
name of Africa. The city itself was levelled to 
the ground, and a curse pronounced upon any ^egj-ro'^d 
who should rebuild it.* Corinth and Carthage, 

* C. Grncchus, however, only twenty-four years afterwards, attempted to found 
a new city upon the ancient site, under the namp of Juuonia ; but evil prodifci'S 
at its foundation, and the subsequent death of Gracchus, intfrrupt'd this desiprn. 
The project was revivpd by .Julius Caesar, and was carried into effect by Augustus; 
and Roman Carthage, b lilt at a short distance from the former cit.y, became the 
capital of Africa, and one of tbe most flourishing cities in the ancient world. 



172 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XIX. 

the two gi'eat commercial cities of East and West, had now 
fallen ; and perhaps in their overthrow we may see not merely 
the narrow jealousy of the Koman statesman, hut the selfish 
interest of the capitalist class, which was already a power at 
Eome and aimed at a monopoly of commerce in the conquered 
world. 

The year 146 bc. marks the close of the second period of 
Koman imperial policy. The system of a protectorate had 
broken down in Eastern Europe, and been succeeded by direct 
imperial rule. It remained only to be seen how long the dis- 
credited system could be maintained in Asia ; but dangers in the 
West and internal troubles deferred this question for a con- 
siderable period. 



Chap. XX.] SPANISH WARS. 173 



CHAPTER XX. 

SPANISH WARS, 153-133 B.C. FIRST SERVILE WAR, 134-132 B.C. 

The next twenty years were occupied by serious disturbances in 
the West. The first trouble came from the indomitable province 
of Spain. Here the generous policy of Tib. Sem- . 
pronius Gracchus in 179 B.C.* had secured a long g^!^^^ ™ 
period of tranquillity; but in 153 B.C. the inhabi- 
tants of Segeda having commenced rebuilding the walls of their 
town, which was forbidden by one of the articles in the treaty 
of Gracchus, a new war broke out, which lasted for many years. 
The Celtiberians in general espoused the cause of Segeda, and 
the Consul Q. Fulvius Nobilior made an unsuccessful campaign 
against them. His successor, the Consul M. Claudius Marcellus, 
grandson of the Marcellus who was celebrated in the Second 
Punic War, carried on the war with vigour, and concluded a 
peace with the enemy on very fair terms (152 B.C.). 

The war now took an aggi'essive turn ; for the consul of the 
following year, L. Lucinius Lucullus, finding the Celtiberians at 
peace, turned his arms against the Vaccaei, Can- 
tabri, and other nations as yet unknown to the i^Qgifania 
Romans. At the same time, the Praetor Ser. 
Sulpicius Galba invaded Lusitania ; but, though he met with some 
advantage at first, he was subsequently defeated with great loss, 
and escaped with only a few horsemen. 

In the following year (1.50 B.C.) he again invaded the country 
from the south, while Lucullus attacked it from the north. The 
Lusitanians therefore sent ambassadors to Galba 
to make their submission. He received them with fJ^^t^ ery or 
kindness, lamented the poverty of their country, 
and promised to assign them more fertile lands, if they would 

* See p. 140. 



174 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XX. 

meet him in three bodies, with their wives and children, in three 
places which he fixed upon. The simple people believed him. 
But he meditated one of the most atrocious acts of treachery and 
cruelty recorded in history. He fell upon each body separately, 
and butchered them, men, women, and children, without dis- 
tinction. Among the very few who escaped was Viriathus, the 
future avenger of his nation. Galba was brought to trial on his 
return to Rome on account of his outrage ; and Cato, then in the 
eighty-fifth year of his age, inveighed against his treachery and 
baseness. But Galba was eloquent and wealthy, and the liberal 
employment of his money, together with the compassion excited 
by his weeping children and ward, obtained his acquittal. 

Viriathus appears to have been one of those able guerilla chiefs 
whom Spain has produced at every period of her history. He is 

Viriathus ^^^'^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^ shepherd and afterwards 

a robber, but he soon acquired unbounded in- 
fluence over the minds of his countrymen. After the massacre 
of Galba, those Lusitanians who had not left their homes rose 
as a man against the rule of such treacherous tyrants. Viriathus 
at first avoided all battles in the plains, and waged an incessant 
predatory warfare in the mountains ; and he met with such 
continued good fortune, that numbers flocked to his standard. 
The aspect of affairs seemed at length so threatening tint in 
145 B.C. the Romans determined to send the Consul Q. Fabius 
Maximus into the country. In the following year Fabius defeated 
Viriathus with great loss ; but this success was more than counter- 
balanced by the revolt of the Celtiberians, the bravest of the 
Spaniards. The war is usually known by the name of the 
Numantine, from Numantia, a town on the river Douro, and 
the capital of the Arevaci, the most powerful of the Celtiberian 
tribes. 

Henceforward two Roman armies were employed in Spain, one 
in the north against the Celtiberians, and the other in the south 
. . against Viriathus and the Lusitanians. The war 

■oTa- against the Lusitanians was first brought to a con- 

clusion. In 141 B.C. Viriathus surprised the Pro- 
consul Fabius Servilianus in a narrow pass, where escape was 
impossible. He used his victory with moderation, and suffered 
the Romans to depart uninjured, on condition of their allowing 
the Lusitanians to retain undisturbed possession of their own 



Chap. XX.] NUMANTINE WAR. 175 

territory, and recognizing him as a friend and ally of Rome. 
This treaty was ratified by the Roman people ; but the Consul 
Q. Servilius Caepio, who succeeded Fabius in the command in 
Southern Spain, found some pretext for violating the peace, and 
renewed the war against Viriathus. The latter sent envoys to 
Caepio to propose fresh terms of peace ; but the Roman consul 
persuaded them, by promises of large rewards, to murder their 
general. On their return they assassinated him in his own tent, 
and made their escape to the Roman camp before the Lusi- 
tanians were aware of the death of their chief. But, when the 
murderers claimed their reward, the consul coolly told them that 
the Romans did not approve of the murder of a general by his 
own soldiers. The Lusitanians continued in arms a little longer, 
but the war was virtually terminated by the death of Viriathus. 
Their country was finally reduced to subjection by the Consul 
D. Junius Brutus in 138 B.C., who also crossed the rivers Douro 
and Minho, and received the surname of Callaicus in consequence 
of his i-eceiving the submission o'f the Callaici, or Gallaeci, a 
people in the north-west of Spain. 

The war against the Celtiberians was at first conducted with 
success by the Consul Q. Metellus Macedonicus, who during his 
praetorship had defeated the pretender to the 
Macedonian throne. But the successors of Me- ^^™^°^°-^ 
tellus experienced repeated disasters, and at length ^^ Mancinus 
in 137 B.C. the Consul C. Hostilius Mancinus was 
entirel}' surrounded by the Celtiberians, and forced to sign a peace 
in which he recognized their independence. He only obtained 
these terms on condition that his quaestor, Tib. Sempronius 
Gracchus, who was greatly respected by the Spaniards for his 
father's sake, should become responsible for the execution of the 
treaty. The senate refused to ratify it, and went through the 
hypocritical ceremony of delivering over Mancinus bound and 
naked to the enemJ^ But the Numantines, like the Samnites in 
a similar case, declined to accept the offering. 

The war continued to drag on ; and the people now called 
upon Scipio Africanus to bring it to a conclusion. We have 
already traced the career of this eminent man 
till the fall of Carthage. In 142 B.C. he was f/lcfTo"^^"* 
censor with L. Mummius. In the administration 
of the duties of his office be followed iii the footsteps of Cato, 



176 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XX. 

and attempted to repress the growing luxury and immorality of 
his contemporaries; but his efforts were thwarted by his col- 
league. He vainly wished to check in the people the appetite 
for foreign conquests ; and in the solemn prayer which he offered 
at the conclusion of the lustrum he changed the usual supplica- 
tion for the enlargement of the Republic into one for its preserva- 
tion. He was now elected consul a second time, and was sent 
into Spain in 134 B.C. In his camp before Numantia were two 
men who were soon destined to play a large part on the stage of 
history — the Arpinate peasant Marius, and the Numidian prince 
Jugurtha. Scipio's first efforts were directed, as in Africa, to 
the restoration of discipline in the army, which had become dis- 
organized and demoralized by every kind of indulgence. 

Having brought his troops into an effective condition, he 
proceeded, in the following year, to lay siege to the town. It 
was defended by its inhabitants with the courage 
S ° Msh \s ^^^ perseverance which has pre-eminently dis- 
tinguished the Spaniards in all ages in the defence 
of their walled towns. It was not till they had suffered the 
most dreadful extremities of famine, eating even the bodies of 
the dead, that they surrendered the place (133 B.C.). Fifty 
of the principal inhabitants were selected to adorn Scipio's 
triumph, the rest were sold as slaves, and the town was levelled 
to the ground. As a result of the two wars, the whole of Spain, 
with the exception of the northern coast, was now nominally 
subject to Rome. 

During the Numantine War Rome was menaced by a new 
danger, which revealed one of the plague-spots in the Republic. 
We have already had occasion to describe the 
' decay of the free population in Italy, and the 
great increase in the number of slaves from the foreign con- 
quests of the state.* A system of plantation slavery now grew 
up, which presented all the worst features of that detestable 
system. The old domestic servitude of the Romans, in which 
the slave was a member of the family, had now given place to 
the plantation system, which left the slave to the mercy of the 
overseer. Sometimes, where under the changed economic con- 
ditions land could not be profitably cultivated, vast territories in 
Italy had been turned into sheep-walks, where the slave was 
* See p. 155. 



Chap. XX.] FIRST SERVILE WAR. 177 

left to shift for himself, getting his food as best he conld ; and it 
required little to change these men, most of whom had known 
the gift of freedom, into brigands. 

It was in Sicily, where the proportion of slaves to free labourers 
was greater even than in Italy, that the first Servile War broke 
out. Damophilus, a wealthy landowner of Enna, . 
had treated his slaves with excessive barbarity. ^^ ^ 
They entered into a conspiracy against their 
cruel master, and consulted a Syrian slave of the name 
of Eunus, who belonged to another lord. This Eunus pre- 
tended to the gift of prophecy, and appeared to breathe flames 
of fire from his mouth. He not only promised them success, but 
joined in the enterprise himself. Having assembled to the 
number of about 400 men, they suddenly attacked Enna, and, 
being joined by their fellow-sufl'erers within the town, quickly 
made themselves masters of it. Great excesses were committed, 
and almost all the freemen were put to death with horrid tortures. 
Eunus had, while yet a slave, prophesied that he should become 
king. He now assumed the royal diadem, and the title of king 
Antiochus. Sicily was at this time swarming with slaves, a great 
proportion of them Syrians, who flocked to the standard of their 
countryman and fellow-bondsman. The revolt now became 
general, and the island was delivered over to the murderous 
fury of men maddened by oppression, cruelty, and insult. The 
praetors, who first led armies against them, were totally defeated ; 
and in 134 B.C. it was thought necessary to send the Consul C. 
Fulvius Flaccus to subdue the insurrection. But neither he, nor 
the consul of the following year, succeeded in this object; and 
it was not till 132 B.C. that the Consul P. Rupilius brought the 
war to an end by the capture of Tauromenium and Enna, the 
two strongholds of the insurgents. The life of Eunus was spared, 
probably with the intention of carrying him to Rome, but he died 
in prison at Morgantia. 

About the same time Rome obtained her first possession in 
Asia. Attains Philometor, the last king of Pergamus, dying 
childless, bequeathed his kingdom and treasures 
to the Roman people (133 B.C.). A vigorous ^f^^^"® 
attempt was made by Aristonicus, a natural son 
of Eumenes, the father of Attains, to resist the bequest. He 
even defeated the Consul P. Licinus Crassus, who was slain 



178 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XX. 

(131 B.C.), but he was himself defeated and taken prisoner in the 
following year, and the kingdom of Pergamus was formed into a 
Eoman province under the name of Asia (129 B.C.). 

Kome now exercised direct government in three continents 
over foreign domains which were divided into ten provinces. 

These provinces, with the date of their acquisi- 
;?l^°.Tf ^ tion, were : 1. Sicily, 241 b c. 2. Sardinia and 

Corsica, 238 B.C. 3, 4. The two Spains, Citerior 
and Ulterior, 205 B.C. 5. Gallia Cisalpina, 191 B.C. 6. Mace- 
donia and Achaea, 146 B.C. 7. Illyricura, probably formed at 
the same time as Macedonia.* 8. Africa, consisting of the 
dominions of Carthage, 146 B.C. 9. Asia, including the king- 
dom of Pergamus, 129 B.C. To these a tenth was added in 
118 B.C. by the conquest of the southern portion of Transalpine 
Gaul between the Alps and the Pyrenees. In contrast with 
the other portions of Gaul, it was frequently called simply the 
" Provincia," a name which has been retained in the modern 
" Provence.' 

* lUyricutn was, however, not yet treated as an independent province, but 
appears to have been regarded as an appendage to Cisalpine (jauL 



Tabularium with Capito! above !t. 




The Roman Forum, looking west. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



THE GKACCHI, AND THE ATTACK ON THE GOVERNMENT. 
133-121 B.C. 

With the year 133 begins the internal revolution at Rome which, 
was to find no issue but in the establishment of an Empire. 
It took the form of an attempt by the people to regain the 
sovereignty usurped, and in their view misused, by the senate. 
The first point on which its authority was challenged was one 
of internal reform, and the first evil which seemed to call for 
reformation was the decay of the yeoman-farmer class. 

The more thoughtful Romans had long foreseen the danger 
with which Rome was menaced by the impoverish- 
ment of her free population, and the alarming Economic 

increase in the number of slaves; but neither ^^^^.liit?^ 

1 /- n 1 01 Italy, 

they nor the reformers of the present age seem 

to have understood its cause. It is true that the evil would 



130 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXI. 

never have reached its present height if the Licinian Law had 
been ohserved ; but economic conditions were unfavourable to 
the existence of a class of peasant-proprietors. Through the 
importation of cheap grain from the provinces, corn could not be 
grown productively in Italy : the average Roman preferred to 
invest his capital in the provinces; and voluntary emigration, 
which accompanied the investment, was responsible for a great 
part of the depopulation of Italy which the would-be reformers 
deplored. 

Still, the disappearance of the yeoman class, the backbone of 
the country, was an undoubted evil, and it was the desire for its 
restoration that wholly animated the policy of Tiberius Gracchus 
and partly that of his younger brother Gains. They perished in 
their attempt at reform, and their violent death may be regarded 
as the beginning of the Civil Wars which ended in the destruc- 
tion of freedom, and the establishment of the despotism of the 
Empire. 

Tiberius and Gains Gracchus were the sons of Tib. Sempronius 
Gracchus, whose prudent measures gave tranquillity to Spain for 
_ „ ,. so many years.* They lost their father at an early 
age, but they were educated with the utmost care 
by their mother, Cornelia, the daughter of Scipio Africanus the 
elder, who had inherited from her father a love of literature, and 
united in her person the severe virtues of the ancient Roman 
matron witli the superior knowledge and refinement which then 
prevailed in the higher classes at Rome. She engaged for her 
sons the most eminent Greek teachers ; and it was mainly owing 
to the pains she took with their education that they surpassed 
all the Roman youths of their age. 

Tiberius was nine years older than his brother Caius. The 

latter had more ability, but Tiberius was the more amiable, and 

won all hearts by the simplicity of his demeanour 

O ^c^h^s ^"^ ^^^ graceful and persuasive eloquence. So 

highly was Tiberius esteemed, that as soon as he 

reached the age of manhood he was elected augur, and at the 

banquet given at his installation Appius Claudius, then chief of 

the senate, offered him his daughter in marriage. When Appius 

returned home and informed his wife that he had just betrothed 

their daughter, she exclaimed, " Why in such a hurry, unless you 

* See p. 140. 



Chap. XXI.] TRIBUNATE OF TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. 181 

have got Tiberius Gracchus for her husband? " Serupronia, the 
only sister of Tiberius, was married to the younger Scipio 
Africauus. Tiberius was thus, by birth and marriage, connected 
with the noblest famihes in the Republic — the grandson of the 
conqueror of Hannibal, the son-in-law of the chief of the senate, 
and the brother-in-law of the destroyer of Carthage. 

Tiberius served under his brother-in-law in Africa, and was the 
first who scaled the walls of Carthage. He was quaestor iu 137 
B.C., and accompanied the Consul Mancinus to Spain, where he 
saved the army by obtaining the treaty with the Numantines, which 
the senate refused to ratify.* In passing through Etruria, on his 
way to Spain, Tiberius had observed with grief and indignation 
the deserted state of that fertile country. Thousands of foreign 
slaves were tending the flocks and cultivating the soil of the 
wealthy landowners, while Roman citizens had not a clod of 
earth to call their own. He now conceived the design of applying 
a remedy to this state of things, and with this view became a 
candidate for the tribunate, and was elected for the year 133 b.c. 

Tiberius, however, did not act with precipitation. The measure 
which he brought forward had previously received the approba- 
tion of some of the wisest and noblest men in the 
state ; of his own father-in-law Appius Claudius; , is agranan 
of P. Mucins Scaevola, the great jurist, who was 
then consul ; and of Crassus, the Pontifex Maximus. It was 
proposed to re-enact the Licinian Law of 367 B.C. — which had, 
in fact, never been repealed — but with some modifications and 
additions. As in the Licinian Law, no one was to be allowed 
to possess more than 500 jugera of public land ; but to relax the 
stringency of this rule, every possessor might hold in addition 
250 jugera for each of two sons, and the land so retained was to 
become private property. All the rest of the public land was 
to be taken away from them and distributed, in lots of thirty 
jugera, among the poor citizens, who were not to be permitted 
to alienate these lots, in order that they might not be again 
absorbed into the estates of the wealthJ^ An indemnity was to 
be given from the public treasury for all buildings erected upon 
lands thus taken away. Three commissioners (triumviri) were 
to be elected annually by the people in order to carry this law 
into execution and to adjudicate on all disputes arising from it. 

* See p. 175. 



182 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXl. 

The law affected ouly public lands, but it was none the less 
regarded as a measure of confiscation. It is true that no pre- 
scription can, as a general rule, be pleaded against the rights of 
the state, but the possessors of the public lands had enjo^'ed 
them without question for so long a period that they had come 
to regard these lands as their private property. In many cases, 
as we have already said, they had been acquired by bond fide 
purchase, and the claim of the state, now advocated by Gracchus, 
was regarded as downright robbery. Attacks upon property have 
produced the greatest convulsions in all states, and the Roman 
landowners were ready to have recourse to any measures to 
defeat the law. But the thousands who would be benefited by 
it were determined to support Tiberius at any risk. He told 
them that " the wild beasts of Italy had their dens, and holes, 
and hiding-places, while the men who fought and bled in defence 
of Italy wandered about with their wives and cliildren without a 
spot of ground to rest upon." It was evident that the law would 
be carried, and the government therefore resorted to the only 
means left to them. 

The senate, partly in the interest of its landowning members, 
partly because it objected to a measure of reform emanating 
. . from the people, induced M. Octavius, one of the 

Octavius tribunes, to put his veto upon the measure of his 

colleague. The contest was felt to be a duel 
between the senate and the people ; and the immediate result 
was a political deadlock. Tiberius, after a vain attempt to 
induce Octavius to withdraw his veto, retaliated by forbidding 
the magistrates to exercise any of their functions, and by suspend- 
ing, in fact, the entire administration of the government. But 
Octavius remained firm, and Tiberius therefore determined to 
depose him from his office. 

He summoned an Assembly of the Plebs and put the question 
to the vote. Seventeen out of the thirty-five tribes had already 
. . . voted for the deposition of Octavius, and the addi- 
Oetavius ^^^^ ^^ ^"^^ tribe would reduce him to a private 

condition, when Tiberius stopped the voting, 
anxious, at the last moment, to prevent the necessity of so 
desperate a measure. Octavius, however, would not yield. 
" Complete what you have begun," was his only answer to the 
entreaties of his colleague. The eighteenth tribe voted, and 



Chap. XXI.] TRIBUNATE OF TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. 183 

Tiberius ordered him to be dragged from the rostra. Octavius 
had only exercised his undoubted rights, and his deposition was 
clearly a violation of the spirit, if not of the letter, of the Roman 
constitution. This gave the enemies of Gracchus the handle 
which they needed. They could now justly charge him, not 
only with revolutionary measures, but with employing revolu- 
tionary means to carry tliem into effect. 

The Agi-arian Law was passed without further opposition, and 
the three commissioners elected to put it in force were, un- 
fortunately for its credit, a family party com- 
posed of Tiberius himself, his father-in-law Appius „„° ;„„:„„ 

Claudius, and his brother Caius, then a youth of 
twenty, serving under P. Scipio at Nuraantia. 

Tiberius further proposed that the treasures acquired by the 
recent bequest of Attains king of Pergamus should be dis- 
tributed among the people who had received attacks on 
assignments of lands, to enable them to stock the preroga- 
their farms and to assist them in their cnltiva- tives of the . 
tion. He thus attacked two of the most funda- senate. 
mental prerogatives of the senate — its control of the provinces 
and its control of finance. The exasperation of the nobility was 
intense, and it was evident that his life would be no longer safe 
when he ceased to be protected by the sanctity of the tribune's 
office. Accordingly he became a candidate for the tribunate for 
the following year. 

The tribunes did not enter upon their office till December, 
but the election took place in June, at which time the country- 
people, on whom he chiefly relied, were engaged 
in getting in the harvest. Still, two tribes had ^"^mpt at 
1 1 , 1 • 1 • ^ , , , .,. re-election. 

already voted m his favour, when the nobility 

interrupted the election by maintaining that it was illegal for a 
man to be chosen tribune for two consecutive years. After 
a violent debate, the Assembly was adjourned till the following 
day. Tiberius now became alarmed lest his enemies should get 
the upper hand, and he went round the forum with his child, 
appealing to the sympathy of the people and imploring their 
aid. They readily responded to his appeal, escorted him home, 
and a large crowd kept watch around his house all night. 

Next day the adjourned Assembly met on the Capitol in the 
open space in frorjt of the Temple of Jupiter. Tbe senate also 



184 • HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXI. 

assembled in the Temple of Faith close by. Scipio Nasica, 
the leader of the more violent party in the senate, called 
upon the consul, Mucins Scaevola, to stop the 
jmuraer oi re-election, but the consul declined to interfere. 

Gracchus Fulvius Flaccus, a senator, and a friend of Tibe- 

rius, hastened to inform him of the speech of 
Nasica, and told him that his death was resolved upon. There- 
upon the friends of Tiberius prepared to resist force by force ; 
and as those at a distance could not hear him, on account of 
the tumult and confusion, the tribune pointed v^rith his hand 
to his head, to intimate that his life was in danger. His enemies 
exclaimed that he was asking for the crown. The news reached 
the seqate. Nasica appealed to the consul to save the Eepublic, 
but as Scaevola still refused to have recourse to violence, Nasica 
sprang up, and exclaimed, " The consul is betraying the Republic ! 
let those who wish to save the state follow me." He then 
rushed out of the senate-house, followed by many of the senators. 
The terrified people made way for them ; and the fathers, break- 
ing up the benches, armed themselves with sticks, and rushed 
upon Tiberius and his friends. The tribune fled to the Temple 
of Jupiter, but the door had been barred by the priests, and in 
his flight he fell over a prostrate body. As he was rising he 
received the first blow from one of his colleagues, and was 
quickly despatched. Upwards of 300 of his partisans were sk'n 
on the same day. Tiieir bodies were thrown into the Tiber. 
This was the first blood shed at Rome in civil strife since the 
expulsion of the kings, and it was the beginning of the Civil Wars. 
Notwithstanding their victory, the nobles did not venture to 
propose the repeal of the Agrarian Law, and a new commissioner 
was chosen in the place of Tiberius. The popular indignation 
was so strongly excited against Scipio Nasica that his friends 
advised him to withdraw from Italy, though he was Pontifex 
Maximus, and therefore ought not to have quitted the country. 
He died shortly afterwards at Pergamus. 

All eyes were now turned to Scipio Africanus, who returned 
to Rome in 132 b.c. When Scipio received at Numantia the 
news of -the death of Tiberius, he is reported to have exclaimed, 
in the verse of Homer * — 

" So perish all who do the like again ! " 
* Od., i. 47. 



Chap. XXL] DEATH OF SCIPIO. 185 

The people may have thought that the brother-in law of 
Tiberius would show some sympathy with his reforms and 
some sorrow for his fate. They were soon un- 
deceived. Being asked in the Assembly of the °^P^° . 
Plebs by C. Papirius Carbo, the tribune, who Haiians 
was now the leader of the popular party, what he 
thought of the death of Tiberius, he boldly replied that " he was 
justly slain." The people, who had probably expected a different 
answer, loudly expressed their disapprobation ; whereupon Scipio, 
turning to the mob, bade them be silent, since Italy was only their 
step-mother.* The people did not forget this insult ; but for a 
time Scipio's unexpected adhesion to the nobility enabled them 
to prevent the Agrarian Law of Tiberius from being carried into 
effect. A chance was offered of checking the Agrarian Law on 
grounds that did not appear to represent the selfish interests of 
a class. The Italians settled on Roman public land were alarmed 
at the prospect of being dispossessed, and Scipio skilfully availed 
himself of the circumstance to propose in the senate (129 B.C.) 
that the judicial powers should be taken out of the hands of the 
commissioners and transferred to the consuls. This measure was 
equivalent to an abrogation of the laws, and excited fierce hatred 
against Scipio. In the forum he was attacked by Carbo, with 
the bitterest invectives, as the enemy of the people ; and u[)on 
his again expressing his approval of the death of Tiberius, 
the people shouted out, " Down with the tyrant ! " In the 
evening he went home accompanied by the senate and a great 
number of the Italians. He retired to his chamber, with the 
intention of composing a speech for the following day. 

Next morning Rome was thrown into consternation by the 
news that Scipio had been found dead in his room. The most 
contradictory rumours were circulated, but it was 
the general opinion that he had been murdered. g„j-,;_ 
Suspicion fell upon various persons, but Carbo was 
most generally believed to have been the murderer. There was 
no inquiry into the cause of his death (129 B.C.). 

But, though the opposition leader was thus treacherously 
removed, the influence of Scipio's last action was permanent. 

* It must be recollected that the mob at Eome consisted chiefly of the four 
city-tribes, and that slaves when manumitted could be enrolled in these four 
tribes alone. 



186 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXI. 

The introduction of the question of the Italians disorganized the 
democratic party by creating a difference of opinion between the 

popular leaders and their following. The former, 
Proposal to thinking they had made a tactical mistake in alien- 
the Italians ^-ting the Italians from their cause, now attempted 

to secure their adhesion by offering them the 
Roman citizenship if they would .support the Agrarian Law. 
As Roman citizens they would, of course, be entitled to the 
benefits of the law, while they would, at the same time, obtain 
what they had so long desired — an equal share in protection and 
political power. -But the proposal was far from popular at Rome, 
for the existing citizens saw that their own importance would 
be diminished, and their benefits in the Empire lessened, by an 
increase in their numbers. So strong was this feeling that, 
when great numbers of the Italians had flocked to Rome in 
126 B.C., the Tribune M. Junius Pennus carried a law that all 
aliens should quit the city. Cains Gracchus spoke against this 
law, and his friends still remained faithful to the cause of the 
Italians. In the following year (125 B.C.) M. Fulvius Flaccns, 
who was then consul, brought forward a Reform Bill, granting 
the Roman citizenship to all the Italain allies. But it was 
evident that the Assembly would reject this law, and the senate 
got rid of the proposer by sending him into Transalpine Gaul. 

In the previous year Caius Gracchus had gone to Sardinia as 
quaestor, so that the senate had now removed irom Rome two 

o'f their most troublesome opponents, and the 
_ ,, Italians had lost their two most powerful patrons. 

Bitter was the disappointment of the Italians, who 
had been buoyed up by hopes and probably by injudicious 
promises. Fregellae, a town of Latium, and one of the eighteen 
Latin colonies which had remained faithful to Rome during the 
Second Punic War, took up arms; but its example was not 
followed, and it had to bear alone the brunt of the unequal 
contest. It was quickly reduced by the praetor, L. Opimius ; 
the city was utterly destroyed, and the insurrection, which a 
slight success would have made universal, was thus nipped in 
the bud (125 B.C.). 

Caius Gracchus had taken very little part in public affairs 
since his brother's death. He had spoken only twice on 
political matters; once in favour of a law of Carbo for the 



Chap. XXI.] LAWS OF CAIUS GRACCHUS. 187 

re-election of tribunes, and a second time in opposition to the 
Alien Act of Junius Pennus, as already mentioned. But the 
eyes of the people were naturally turned towards . 
him. His abilities were known, and the senate Qracohna 
dreaded his return to Rome. He had been already 
two years in Sardinia, and they now attempted to retain him there 
another year by sendino^ fresh troops to the province without 
releasing his superior officer from his command. But Caius sud- 
denly appeared at Rome, to the surprise of all parties (124 B.C.). 
His enemies brought him before the censors to account for his 
conduct, but he defended himself so ably that not only was no 
stigma put upon him, but he was considered to have been very 
badly used. He showed that he had served in the army twelve 
years, though required to serve only ten ; that he had acted as 
quaestor two years, though the law demanded only one year's 
service ; and, he added, that he was the only soldier who took 
out with him a full purse and brought it back empty. Caius 
now became a candidate for the tribunate, and was elected for 
the year 123 b.c. He was not, like his more single-minded 
brother, merely a social reformer. His laws, so far as they were 
not merely animated by revenge, were meant to weaken per- 
manently the authority of the senate ; and the democratic 
programme which he fixed became, without the change of a 
single item, the heritage of the popular leaders to the close of 
the Republic. To this main object even his social legislation 
was subsidiary, and his measures for the amelioration of the 
poor were but bribes given to the masses to secure their support 
in his vigorous campaign against the government. 

I. His principal laws for improving the condition of the people 
were — 

1. The renewal of his brother's Agrarian Law; ^^^.^ ®™' 
and an extension of agrarian relief by planting 

new citizen-colonies in Italy and the provinces. This was the 
first attempt made at transmarine colonization and at the 
extension of citizenship to the provinces. 

2. A state provision for the poor, enacting that corn should be 
sold to every citizen at a price much below its market value. 
This was the first of the Leges Frumentariae, which, although 
to some extent justified by the entire absence of any state pro- 
vision for the poor, were attended with the most injurious effects. 



188 HISTORY OP ROME. [Chap. XXI. 

They emptied the treasury, at the same time that they taught 
the lower classes to become state paupers, instead of depending 
upon their own exertions for a living. 

3. Another law enacted that the soldiers should be equipped 
at the expense of the Republic, without the cost being deducted 
from their pay, as had hitherto been the case. 

II. The most important laws designed to diminish the power 
of the senate were — 

1. The law by which the judices were to be taken only from 
the equites, and not from the senators, as had been the custom 

hitherto. This was a very important enactment, 
ex Jutti- ^^^ needs a little explanation. All offences 

against the state were originally tried in the 
Popular Assembly; but when special enactments were passed 
for the trial of particular offences, the practice was introduced of 
entrusting the trial to a standing commission formed by a body 
of judices. This was first done upon the passing of the Cal- 
purnian Law (149 B.C.) for the punishment of provincial magis- 
trates for extortion in their government {De Repetundis). Such 
offences had to be tried before the praetor and a jury of senators, 
but as these very senators either had been or hoped to be pro- 
vincial magistrates, they were not disposed to visit with severity 
offences of which they themselves either had been or were likely 
to be guilty. The equites, to whom Gracchus now transferred 
these criminal courts, were not the military order of that name. 
The title had been extended to denote the upper middle class in 
the state,* composed of capitalists, pubHcani, and rich merchants. 
It was to this class, which was sharply contrasted with the sena- 
torial nobility, that Gracchus gave political recognition ; and from 
this time is dated the creation of a civil Ordo Equester, whose 
interests were frequently opposed to those of the senate, and who 
therefore served as a check upon the latter. 

2. Another law was directed against the arbitrary proceedings 
of the senate in the distribution of the provinces. Hitherto the 

senate had assigned the provinces to the consuls 
Lex de pro- a^gj. their election, and thus had had it in their 
8ul°^^b *'°^" PO'^^'* to grant wealthy governments to their 

partisans, or unprofitable ones to those opposed 
to them. It was now enacted that, before the election of the 

* See p. 64. 



Chap. XXl.J COUNTER-PROPOSALS OF DRUSUS. 189 

consuls, the senate should determine the two provinces which 
the consuls should have ; and that they should, immediately after 
election, settle between themselves, by lot or otherwise, which 
province each should take. 

These laws raised the popularity of Caius still higher, and he 
became for a time the absolute ruler of Rome. He was re- 
elected tribune for the following year (122 B.C.), j • • 
for, in the interval that had elapsed between the . . j^Qja"^" 
death of his brother and his first tribunate, re- 
election to the office had been made possible. M. Fulvius 
Flaccus, who had been consul in 125 B.C., was also chosen as 
one of his colleagues. Flaccus, it will be recollected, had pro- 
posed in his consulship to give the Roman franchise to the 
Italian allies, and it was now determined to bring forward a 
similar measure. Caius therefore brought in a bill conferring 
the citizenship upon all the Latin colonies, and making the 
Italian allies occupy the position which the Latins had previously 
held. This wise measure was equally disliked in the forum and 
the senate. Neither the influence nor the eloquence of Gracchus 
could mduce the people to view with satisfaction the admission 
of the Italian allies to equal rights and privileges with themselves. 

The senate, perceiving that the popularity of Gracchus had 
been somewhat shaken by this measure, employed his colleague, 
M. Livius Drusus — who was noble, well-educated, 
wealthy, and eloquent — to undermine his influence Counter- 
with the people. With the sanction of the senate, of^Drusus 
Drusus now endeavoured to outbid Gracchus. He 
played the part of a demagogue in order to supplant the true 
friend of the people. He gave to the senate the credit of every 
popular law which he proposed, and gradually impressed the 
people with the belief that the nobles were their best friends. 
Gracchus proposed to found two colonies at Tarentum and Capua, 
and named among the first settlers some of the most respect- 
able citizens. Drusus introduced a law for establishing no fewer 
than twelve colonies, and for settling 3000 poor citizens in each. 
Gracchus, in the distribution of the public land, reserved a rent 
payable to the public treasury. Drusus abolished even this pay- 
ment. He also gained the confidence of the people by asking 
no favour for himself; he took no part in the foundation of 
colonies, and left to others the management of business in which 



190 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXL 

any money had to be expended. Gracchus, on the other hand, 
superintended everything in person ; and the people, always 
jealous in pecuniary matters, began to suspect his motives. 
During his absence in Africa, whither he had gone as one of the 
three commissioners for founding a colony upon the ruins of 
Carthage, Drusus was able to weaken his popularity still further. 
On his return he endeavoured in vain to reorganize his party 
and recover his power. Both he and Flaccus failed in being 

re-elected tribunes ; while L. Opimius and Q. 
* ^® ° Fabius, two personal enemies of Gracchus, were 

raised to the consulship. The two new consuls 
had no sooner entered upon office (121 B.C.) than they resolved 
to drive matters to extremities. One of the first measures of 
Opimius was a proposal to repeal the law for colonizing Car- 
thage, because it had been established upon the site which Scipio 
had cursed. It was evident that a pretext was only sought for 
taking the life of Gracchus, and Flaccus urged him to repel 
violence by force. Caius shrank from this step, but an accident 
gave his enemies the pretext which they longed for. The tribes 
had assembled at the' Capitol to decide upon the colony at Car- 
thage, when a servant of the Consul Opimius, pushing against 
Gracchus, insolently cried out, " Make way for honest men, you 
rascals !" Gracchus turned round to him with an angry look, 
and the man was immediately stabbed by an unknown hand. 
The Assembly immediately broke up, and Gracchus returned 
home, foreseeing the advantage which this unfortunate occur- 
rence would give to his enemies. 

The senate now resorted to its last weapon ; it declared 
Gracchus and Flaccus public enemies, and invested the consuls 

with dictatorial powers. During the night Opimius 
Death of Caius ^^^^ possession of the Temple of Castor and 
Grace us. PoUux, which overlooked the forum, summoned 

a meeting of the senate for the following morning, and ordered 
all the partisans of the senate to be present, each with two armed 
slaves. Flaccus seized the Temple of Diana on the Aventine, 
and distributed arms to his followers : here he was joined by 
Gracchus. Civil war was thus declared. After some fruitless 
attempts at negotiation, the consul proceeded to attack the 
Aventine. Little or no resistance was made, and Flaccus and 
Gracchus took to flight, and crossed the Tiber by the Sublician 



Chap. XXL] FATE OF THE eRACCHAN LEGISLATION. 191 

bridge. Gracchus escaped to the Grove of the Furies, accom- 
panied only by a single slave. When the pursuers reached the 
spot, they found both of them dead. The slave had first killed 
his master and then himself The head of Gracchus was cut off, 
and carried to Opimius, who gave to the person who brought it 
its wdight iQ gold. F.accus was also put to death, together with 
numbers of his part}^ Their corpses were thrown into the Tiber, 
their houses demolished, and their property confiscated. Even 
their widows were forbidden to wear mourning. After the bloody 
work had been finished, the consul, by order of the senate, 
dedicated a temple to Concord ! 

The measures of social reform projected by the Gracchi did 
not long survive their authors. In 121 b.c. the land-allotments 
were made alienable, and a great deal of the 
public land, which had been distributed, appears *^^*® °' *"^ 

to have lapsed again into the hands of its original i„'^^?„f; 

i- 1 J 111 J 1 legislation. 

possessors; lor a law oi 111 b.c, passed under 

the auspices of the senate, declared all such land private 

property ; the slave population did not diminish, nor did the 

yeoman class increase. But, if the final downfall of the Eoman 

constitution was a worthy object of Komau ambition, G. Gracchus 

at least had not lived in vain. 




A Roman trophy. 



CHAPTEE XXn. 



Marius. 



THE JUGURTHINE WAK AND THE DEFEAT OF THE GOVERNMENT. 
118-104 B.C. 

The first attack on the senate's government had been foiled, 
and the failure and death of the Gracchi proved that internal 
reform could not be forced on the governing 
corporation. It was now to be assailed on a 
more vulnerable point — that of imperial administration ; their 
conduct in the Jugurthine War raised against the nobility a more 
terrible opponent than the Gracchi had ever been, and showed 
that the leader of the popular party need not be a powerless 
tribune relying on the fickle votes of the Assembly, but might 
be au imperator at the head of an army. This military leader 



Chap. XXII.] MARIUS AND JUGURTHA. 193 

was found in C. Marius. He was a native of Arpinum, first 
saw service in Spain, and was present at the siege of Numantia 
in 134 B.C. Here he attracted the notice of Scipio Africanus, 
and received from him manj' marks of honour. Scipio, indeed, 
admitted liim to his table ; and on a certain occasion, when one 
of tlie guests asked where tlie Roman people would find such 
another general after his death, he is said to have laid his hand 
on the shoulder of Marius, and said, "Perhaps here." Througli 
distinguished service in the army Marius reached the honours 
generally reserved for birth, and was at length raised to the 
Tribunate of the Plebs in 119 B.C., though not till he had 
attained the mature age of thirt3'-six. Only two years had 
elapsed since the death of C. Gracchus ; and the nobles, flushed 
with victory, resolved to put down with a high hand the least 
invasion of their privileges and power. But Marius had the 
boldness to propose a law for the purpose of giving greater 
freedom at elections ; and when the senate attempted to over- 
awe him, he ordered one of his officers to carry the Consul 
Metellus to prison. Marius now became a marked man. He 
lost his election to the aedileship, and with difficult}' obtained 
the praetorship (115 B.C.) ; but he added to his influence by his 
mairiage with Julia, the sister of C. Julius Caesar, the father of 
the future ruler of Rome. His military abilities recommended 
him to the Consul Metellus (109 B.C.), who was anxious to re- 
store discipline in the army and to retrieve the glory of the 
Roman name, which had been tarnished by the incapacity and 
corruption of the previous generals in the Jugurthine War. 

The relations into which Rome had entered with the pro- 
tected kings of Numidia had drawn her into a miserable 
dynastic quarrel. The aged Masinissa had died ^ 
in 149 B.C., leaving three sons, Micipsa, Mas- 
tanabal, and Gulussa, among whom his kingdom was divided 
by Scipio Africanus, according to the djang directions of the old 
king. Mastanabal and Gulussa dying in their brother's hfetime, 
Micipsa became sole king. Jugurtha was a bastard son of 
Mastanabal ; but Micipsa brought him up with his own sons, 
Hiempsal and Adherbal. Jugurtha's distinction and popularity 
excited the fears of the king, and in order to remove him to a 
distance, and not without a hope that he might perish in the 
war, Micipsa sent him, in 134 b.c, with an auxiliary force, to 



194 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXII. 

assist Scipio against Numantia ; but this only proved to the 
young man a stepping-stone to success. By his zeal, courage, 
and ability he gained the favour, not only of his commander, but 
of all the leading nobles in the Eoman camp, by manj^ of whom 
he was secretly stimulated to nourish ambitious schemes for 
acquiring the sole sovereignty of Numidia ; and notwithstanding 
the contrary advice of Scipio, the counsels seem to have sunk 
deep into Jugurtha's mind. On his return he was received with 
every demonstration of honour by Micipsa ; nor did he allow his 
ambitious projects to break forth during the lifetime of the old 
man. Micipsa, on his deathbed, though but too clearly foreseeing 
what would happen, commended the two young princes to the 
care of Jngurtha ; but fierce dissensions soon broke out. 

Shortly afterwards Jugurtha found an opportunity to surprise 

and assassinate Hiempsal ; whereupon Adherbal and his partisans 

rushed to arms but were defeated in battle by 

Jugurtha Jugurtha. Adherbal himself fled for refuge to 

S61Z6S 

Numidia ^^^^ Roman province, from whence he hastened 

to Rome to lay his cause before the senate. 
Jugurtha had now, for the first time, the opportunity of putting 
to the test the lessons learnt in the camp before Numantia. He 
sent ambassadors to Rome to counteract, by a lavish distribution 
of bribes, the efl^ect of Adherbal's complaints; and by these 
means succeeded in averting the indignation of the senate ; 
although, even without this inducement, the government would 
probably not have been unwilling to see the protected kingdom 
under an able ruler who had won the confidence of the people. 
Still, the forms of justice were preserved : a decree was passed 
for the division of the kingdom of Numidia between the two com- 
petitors, and a commission of senators sent out ; but the commis- 
sioners were worked on by Jugurtha, who obtained, in the partition 
of the kingdom, the western division adjacent to Mauretania, by 
far the larger and richer portion of the two (116 B.C.). 

This advantage, however, was far from contenting him, and 
shortly afterwards he invaded the territories of his rival with a 
Capture of large army. ' Adherbal was defeated in the first 
Cirta, and engagement, his camp taken, and he himself with 
massacre of difficulty made his escape to the strong fortress 
Italians. ^f Qj^ta. Here he was closely blockaded by 

Jugurtha. The garrison surrendered on a promise of their lives 



Chap. XXII.] WAR IN NUMIDIA. 195 

being spared ; but these conditions were shamefully violated by 
Jugurtha, who immediately put to death Adherbal and all his 
followers (112 B.C.). 

Unfortunately, a number of Italian merchants were amongst 
the massacred, and a piercing cry went up from the all-powerful 
capitalists of Rome. With the equites on its side, 
the popular party had its chance, and one of the Memmius 
tribunes, C. Memmius, by bringing the matter opposition 
before the people, compelled the senate to declare 
war. In 111 B.C. one of the consuls, L. Calpurnius Bestia, 
landed in Africa with a large army, and immediately proceeded 
to invade Numidia. But both Bestia and M. Scaurus, who acted 
as his principal lieutenant, are said to have been bribed by 
Jugurtha to grant him a favourable peace, on condition only of 
a pretended submission, together with the surrender of thirty 
elephants and a small sum of money. The scandal of this trans- 
action was dwelt on by Memmius, and it was agreed to send the 
Praetor L. Cassius, a man of the highest integritj', to Numidia, 
in order to prevail on the king to repair in person to Eome, the 
popular party hoping to be able to convict the leaders of the 
nobility by means of his evidence. 

The safe conduct granted him by the state was religiously 
observed; but the scheme failed of its effect, for, as soon as 
Jugurtha was brought forward in an assembly of 
the People to make his statement, one of the ^^^ * 
tribunes, who had been previous!}; gained over 
by the friends of Scaurus and Bestia, forbade him to speak. 
He, nevertheless, remained at Rome for some time longer, and 
engaged in secret intrigues, which would probably have been 
ultimately crowned with success, had he not in the mean time 
ventured to assassinate Massiva, son of Gulussa, who was putting 
in a claim to the Numidian throne. It was impossible to over- 
look so daring a crime, perpetrated under the very eyes of the 
senate. Jugurtha was ordered to quit Italy without delay. It 
was on this occasion that he is said, when leaving Rome, to have 
uttered the memorable words, " A city for sale, and destined to 
perish quickly, if it can find a purchaser." 

War was now inevitable ; but the incapacity of Sp. Postumius 
Albinus, who arrived to conduct it (110 B.C.), and still more 
that of his brother Aulus, whom he left to command in his 



196 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXII. 

absence when called away to hold the elections at Rome, proved 
as favourable to Jugurtha as the corruption of their prede- 
War in Nu- cessors. Aulus, having penetrated into the heart 
midia. Defeat of Numidia, suffered himself to be surprised in his 
of Aulus camp : great part of his army was cut to pieces, 

Albmus. j^jj(j |.j-,g j.gg|. Qjj]y escaped a similar fate by the 

ignominy of passing under the yoke. The disgrace at once 
roused all the spirit of the Roman people ; the treaty concluded 
by Aulus was instantly annulled, immense exertions were made to 
raise troops, and one of the consuls for the new year (109 B.C.), 
Q. Caecilius Metellus, hastened to Numidia to retrieve the 
honour of the Roman arms. 

But this did not satisfy the people. The scandalous conduct 

of so many of the nobles had given fresh life lo the popular 

party ; and the Tribune C. Mamilius carried a bill 

-?f.^^-««-«« for the appointment of three commissioners to 
commission. ..^', , 

mqun-e mto the conduct ot all oi those who had 

received bribes from Jugurtha. Scaurus, though one of the 
most guilty, managed to be put upon the commission. But he 
dared not shield his confederates. Many men of the highest 
rank were condemned, among whom were Bestia, Albinus, and 
Opimius. The last-named was the Opimius who acted with such 
ferocity towards Caius Gracchus and his party. He died in exile 
at Dyrrhacium some years afterwards, in great poverty. 

The Consul Metellus, who was an able general and a man of the 
strictest integrity, landed in Africa, with Marius as his Heutenant, 
in 109 B.C. As soon as Jugurtha discovered tiie 
Metellus pro- character of the new commander, he began to 
secutes the j-j- jj Ij-i, 

despair ot success, and made overtures tor sub- 
mission in earnest. These were apparently enter- 
tained by Metellus, while he sought, in fact, to gain over the 
adherents of the king, and induce them to betray him to the 
Romans, at the same time that he continued to advance into 
the enemy's territories. Jugurtha, in his turn, detected his 
designs, attacked him suddenly on his march with a numerous 
force, but was, after a severe struggle, repulsed, and his army 
totally routed. Metellus ravaged the greater part of the country, 
but failed in taking the important town of Zama before he with- 
drew into winter quarters. But he had produced such an effect 
upon the Numidian king, that Jugurtha was induced, in the 



Chap. XXII.] METELLUS IN NUMIDIA. 197 

course of the winter, to make offers of unqualified submission, 
and even surrendered all his elephants, with a number of arms 
and horses, and a large sura of money, to the Eoman general ; 
but when called upon to place himself personally in the power 
of Metellus, his courage failed him, he broke off the negotiation, 
and once more had recourse to arms. 

Marius had greatly distinguished himself in the preceding 
campaign. The readiness with which he shared the toils of 
the common soldiers, eating of the same food, and working at 
the same trenches with them, had endeared him to them, and 
through their letters to their friends at Rome his praises were 
in everybody's mouth. His increasing reputation and popularity 
induced him to aspire to the consulship. His hopes were in- 
creased bj^ a circumstance which happened to him at Utica. 
While sacrificing at this place, the officiating priest told him that 
the victims predicted some great and wonderful events, and bade 
him execute whatever purpose he had in his mind. Marius 
thereupon applied to Metellus for leave of absence, that he 
might proceed to Rome and offer himself as a candidate. The 
consul, who belonged to the family which " Fate destined for 
the consulship," at first tried to dissuade Marius from his pre- 
sumptuous attempt, by pointing out the certainty of failure ; and 
when he could not prevail upon him to abandon his design, he 
civilly evaded his request by pleading the exigencies of the 
public service, which required his presence and assistance. 
Marius's insistence at last drew from him the impatient remark, 
" You need not hurrj' ; it will be quite time enough for you to 
apply for the consulship along with my son." The latter, who 
was then serving with the army, was a j'outh of only twenty 
years of age, and could not, therefore, become a candidate for 
the consulship for more than twenty years. This insult was 
never forgotten by Marius. He now began to intrigue against 
his general, and to spread the absurd report that the war was 
purposely prolonged by Metellus to gratify his own vanity and 
love of military power. He openly declared that with one-half 
of the army he would soon have Jugurtha in chains ; and, as all 
his remarks were carefully reported at Rome, the people began 
to regard him as the only person competent to finish the war. 

Metellus at last allowed him to leave Africa, but only twelve 
days before the election. Meeting with a favourable wind, he 



198 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXII. 

arrived at Rome in time, and was elected consul with an enthu- 
siasm which bore down all opposition. He received from the 
Marius elected people the province of Numidia, although tlie 
consul. Ap- senate had previously decreed that Metellus 
pointed to should continue in his command. The soldier- 

Numidia. demagogue made the most of the situation. In 

his speeches to the public, he gloried in his humble origin. He 
upbraided the nobles with their effeminacy and licentiousness ; 
he told them that he looked upon the consulship as a trophy 
of his conquest over them ; and he proudly compared his own 
wounds and military experience with their indolence and 
ignorance of war. It was a great triumph for the people 
and a great humiliation for the aristocracy, and Marius made 
them drink to the dregs the bitter cup. While engaged in these 
attacks upon the nobility, he at the same time carried on a levy 
of troops with great activity, and formed the first mercenary 
armj' of Rome by enrolling any persons who chose to offer for 
the service, however poor and mean, instead of taking them 
from the five classes according to ancient custom.* 

Meantime Metellus had been carrying on the war in Africa as 
proconsul (108 B.C.). But the campaign was not productive of 
such decisive results as might have been expected. Jugurtha 
avoided any general action, and eluded the pursuit of Metellus 
by the rapidity of his movements. Even when driven from 
Thala, a stronghold which he had deemed inaccessible from its 
position in the midst of arid deserts, he only retired among the 
Gaetulians, apd quickly succeeded in raising among those wild 
tribes a fresh army, with which he once more penetrated into 
the heart of Numidia. A still more important accession was that 
of Bocchus, king of Mauretania, who had been prevailed upon 
to raise an army and advance to the support of Jugurtha. 
Metellus, however, having now relaxed his own efforts, from 
disgust at hearing that C. Marius had been appointed to succeed 
-him in the command, remained on the defensive, while he sought 
to amuse the Moorish king by negotiation. 

The arrival of Marius (107 B.C.) infused fresh vigour into the 

Roman arms : he quickly reduced in succession ahnost all the 

strongholds that still remained to Jugurtha, in some of which 

the king had deposited his principal treasures ; and the latter. 

* On this important change in the Roman army, see p. 151. 



Chap. XXII.] CLOSE OF THE JUGURTHINE WAR. 199 

seeing himself thus deprived step by step of all his domiMions, 
at length determined on a desperate attempt to retrieve his 
fortunes by one grand effort. He with diffi- . . 
culty prevailed on the wavering Bocchus, by w™^^:^ 
the most extensive promises in case of success, to 
co-operate with him in this enterprise ; and the two kings with 
their united forces attacked Marius on his march, when he was 
about to retire into winter quarters. Though the Koman general 
was taken by surprise for a moment, his skill, the discipline of 
his troops, and the energy of Sulla, Marius's quaestor, who 
scattered the Mauri under Bocchus, proved triumphant ; the 
Numidians were repulsed, and their army, as usual with them 
in case of a defeat, dispersed in all directions. Jugurtha himself, 
after displaying the greatest courage in the action, cut his way 
almost alone through a body of Roman cavalry, and escaped 
from the field of battle. He quickly again gathered round hira 
a body of Numidian horse ; but his only hope of continuing the 
war now rested on Bocchus. 

The only hope of closing the war was to get possession of 
Jugurtha, for Marius's victories had been as nugatory as those of 
Metellus. Fortunately, Marius had in his camp 
a man of great diplomatic ability ; it was his jTigTirtha 
quaestor Sulla who enabled him to perform his 
rash promises to the people. After protracted negotiations, 
Bocchus was gained over to the Roman cause. Through his 
treachery Jugurtha was surprised and handed over to Sulla, 
who conveyed him to the Roman camp (early in 106 B.C.). 

L. Cornelius Sulla, the quaestor of Marius, who afterwards plays 
such a distinguished part in Roman history, was descended from 
a patrician family which had been reduced to „ 
great obscurity. But his means were sufficient 
to secure him a good education. He studied the Greek and 
Roman writers with diligence and success, and early imbibed 
that love of literature and art by which he was distinguished 
throughout his life. But he was also fond of pleasure, and was 
conspicuous even among the Romans for licentiousness and 
debauchery. He was in every respect a contrast, to Marius. 
He possessed all the accomplishments and all the vices which 
the old Cato had been most accustomed to denounce, and he 
was one of those advocates of Greek literature and of Greek 



200 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXII. 

profligacy who had since Cato's time become more and more 
common among the Eoman nobles. But Sulla's love of pleasure 
did not absorb all his time, nor enfeeble his mind ; for no Roman 
during the latter days of the Republic, with the exception of 
Julius Caesar, had a clearer judgment, a keener discrimination 
of character, or a firmer will. Upon his arrival in Africa, Marios 
was not well pleased that a quaestor had been assigned to him 
who was known only for his profligacy, and who had had no 
experience in war ; but the zeal and energy with which Sulla 
attended to his new duties soon rendered him a useful and 
skilful officer, and gained for him the unqualified approbation of 
his commander, notwithstanding his previous prejudices against 
him. He was equally successful in winning the affections of 
the soldiers. He seized every opportunity of conferring favours 
upon them, was ever ready to take part in all the jests of the 
camp, and at the same time never shrank from sharing in all 
their labours and dangers. The enemies of Marius claimed for 
Sulla (apparently with reason) the glory of the betrayal of 
Jugurtha, and Sulla himself took the credit of it by always 
wearing a signet-ring representing the scene of the surrender. 

But the people were not to be baulked of their champion. 
Marius entered Rome on the first of January, 104 B.C., leading 

Jugurtha in triumph. The Numidian king was 
Marius Oi^n thrown into a dungeon, and there starved to 

death. Marius, during his absence, had been 
elected consul a second time, and he entered upon his office 
on the day of his triumph. This signal honour was due to a 
panic which had seized on Italy at a great danger threatening 
from the north. 




German priestess in chariot drawn by oxen (from Antonine column^, 



CHAPTER XXTII. 



THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONES, B.C. 113-101.— SECOND SERVILE 
WAR IN SICILY, B.C. 103-101. 

A GREATER danger than Rome had experienced since the time of 
Hannibal now threatened the state. Two nations of barbarians, 
probably dislodged by some movement of peoples 



The Cimbri 
and Tentones. 



on the Baltic or the Lower Rhine, had gathered 
on the northern side of the Alps, and seemed 
ready to pour down upon Italy. They are spoken of as Cimbri 
and Teutones, and the traditions of their mode of fighting and 
religious rites seem to show that both nations were of Germanic 
origin, although they had probably gathered to themselves 
during their wanderings large numbers of the Celtic ra«e. 
They came with all their belongings, their wagon-homes, their 



202 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap, XXIII 

wobien and children, to seek new settlements in the south ; and 
the whole host is said to have numbered 300,000 fighting men. 

The alarm was still further increased by the disaster which 
had hitherto attended the attempts to repel these barbarians. 
Army after army had fallen before them. The 
Defeat of Cimbri were first heard of in 113 B.C., in Noricum, 

armies whence they descended into Illyricum, and de- 

feated a Roman army under the command of Cn. 
Papirius Carbo. They then marched westward into Switzerland, 
where they were joined by the Tigurini and the Ambrones. 
They next poured over Gaul, which they plundered and ravaged 
in every direction. The Romans sent army after army to defend 
the south-western part of the country, which was now a Roman 
province ; but all in vain. In 109 B.C. the Consul M. Junius 
Silanus was defeated by the Cimbri ; in 107 B.C. the Tigurini cut 
in pieces, near the Lake of Geneva, the army of the Consul L. 
Cassius Longinus, the colleague of Marius, who lost his life in 
the battle ; and shortly afterwards M. Aurelius Scaurus was also 
defeated and taken prisoner. But the most dreadful loss was 
still to come. In 105 B.C. two consular armies, commanded by 
the Consul Cn. Mallius Maximus and the Proconsul Cn. Servilius 
Caepio, consisting of 80,000 men, were completely annihilated 
by the barbarians : only ten men are said to have escaped the 
slaughter. 

These repeated disasters hushed all party quarrels. Every one 
at Rome felt that Marius was the only man capable of saving the 
state, and he was accordingly elected consul by 
Marius ap- ^j^g consent of all parties while he was still absent 
command* ^^ Africa. He entered Rome in triumph, as we 

have already said, on the 1st of Jiinuary, 104 B.C., 
which was the first day of his second consulship. A breathing- 
space was granted by the erratic movements of the barbarians. 
Instead of crossing the Alps and pouring down upon Italy, as 
hid been expected, the Cimbri marched into Spain, which they 
ravaged for the next two or three years. The interval was 
employed by Marius in training the new troops, and accustoming 
them to hardships and toil. It was probably during this time 
that he introduced the various changes into the organization of 
the Roman array which are usually attributed to him. Notwith- 
standing the sternness and severity with which he punished the 



Chap. XXIIJ.] DEFEAT OF THE TEUTONES. 203 

least breach of discipline, he was a favourite -with his new 
soldiers, who learned to pkce implicit confidence in their 
genera], and were delighted with the strict impartiality which 
recognized no distinctions of rank when punishments weie to be 
inflicted. 

As the enemy still continued in Spain, Marius was elected 
consul a third time for the year 103 B.C., and also a fourth 
time for the following year, with Q. Lutatius 
Catulus as his colleague. It was in this year Movements 
(102 B.C.) that the long-expected barbarians ar- horbarians 
rived. The Cimbri, who had returned from Spain, 
united their forces with the Teutones. Marius first took up his 
position in a fortified camp upon the Ehone, probably in the 
vicinity of the modern Aries ; and as the entrance of the river 
was nearly blocked up by mud and sand, he employed his 
soldiers in digging a canal from the Ehone to the Mediterranean, 
that he might the more easily obtain his supplies from the sea.* 
Meantime the barbarians had divided their forces. The Cimbri 
marched round the northern foot of the Alps, in order to enter 
Italy by the north-east, crossing the Tyrolese Alps by the defiles 
of Tridentum {Trent). 

The Teutones and Ambrones, on the other hand, marched 
against Marius, intending, as it seems, to penetrate into Italy by 
Nice and the Riviera of Genoa. Marius, anxious 
to accustom his soldiers to the savage and strange ^^^ Teutones 
appearance of the barbarians, would not give them t*qi„ 
battle at first. The latter resolved to attack the 
Roman camp ; but as they were repulsed in this attempt, they 
pressed on at once for Italy. So great were their numbers, that 
they are said to have been six days in marching by the Roman 
camp. 

As soon as they had advanced a httle way, Marius followed 
them ; and thus the armies continued to march for a few days, 
the barbarians in the front and Marius behind, till 
they came to the neighbourhood of Aquae Sextiae .^ eSextiae 
{Aix). Here the decisive battle was fought. An 
ambush of 3000 soldiers, which Marius had stationed in the rear 
of the barbarians, and which fell upon them when they were 

♦ This canal continued to exist long afterwards, and bore the name of Fossa 
Mariana. 



204 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXIII. 

already retreating, decided the fortune of the daj^ Attacked 
both in front and rear, enervated by the unaccustomed heat, 
they at length broke their ranks and fled. I'he carnage was 
dreadful ; the whole nation was annihilated, for those who es- 
caped put an end to their lives, and their wives followed their 
example. Immediately after the battle, as Marius was in the 
act of setting fire to the vast heap of broken arms which was 
intended as an offering to the gods, horsemen rode up to him, 
and greeted him with the news of his being elected consul for the 
fifth time. 

The Cimbri, in the mean time, had forced their way into Italy. 
The colleague of Marius, Q. Lutatius Catulus, despairing of de- 
fending the passes of the Tyrol, had taken up a 
The Cimbri , •,. ,i axi • / ^ ?• n i x • 

on the Fadus strong position on the Athesis [Adige) ; but m 

consequence of the terror of his soldiers at the 
approach of the barbarians, he was obliged to retreat even 
beyond the Po, thus leaving the whole of the rich plain of Lom- 
bardy exposed to their ravages. Marius was therefore recalled 
from the battle-field of Aix to join the army of Catulus on the 

Po (101 B.C.). 

The united forces of the consul and proconsul crossed the 
river, and hastened in search of the Cimbri, who had marched 

slowly up the stream, in search of a convenient 
"Vercellae crossing-place, and, perhaps, in hopes of being 

joined by the Teutones, of whose destruction 
they had not yet heard. They were now stationed to the west 
of Milan near Vercellae. The Cimbri met with the same fate as 
the Teutones ; the whole nation was annihilated ; and the women, 
like those of the Teutones, put an end to their lives. The first 
tide of Germanic invasion had been stemmed, and Marius was 
hailed as the saviour of the state ; his name was coupled with the 
gods in the libations and at banquets ; and he received the title of 
third founder of Rome. He celebrated his victories by a brilliant 
triumph, in which, however, Catulus was allowed to share. 

During the brilliant campaigns of Marius, Sicily had been 
exposed to the horrors of a second Servile War. The insurrection 

again broke out at Enna in the east of the island, 
War^in Sicilv^ where the slaves elected as their king one Salvius, 

a soothsayer. He displayed considerable abilities, 
and in a short time collected a force of 20,000 foot and 2000 



Chap. XXIII.] 



SECOND SERVILE WAR. 



205 



horse. After defeating a Eoman army, he assumed all the pomp 
of royalty, and took the surname of Tryphon, which had been 
borne by a usurper to the Syrian throne. The success of Salvius 
led to an insurrection in the western part of the island, where 
the slaves chose as their leader a Cilician named Athenio, who 
joined Tryphon, and acknowledged his sovereignty. Upon the 
death of Tryphon, Athenio became king. The insurrection had 
now assumed such a formidable aspect that, in 101 B.C., the 
senate sent the Consul M'. Aquillius into Sicily. He succeeded 
in subduing the insurgents, and killed Athenio with his own 
hand. The survivors were sent to Rome, and condemned to 
fight with wild beasts ; but they disdained to minister to the 
pleasures of their oppressors, and slew each other with their 
own hands in the amphitheatre. 




Fasces (from the original in the Capitol of Rome). 




Caius Mariua. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE DOWISTFALL OF THE OPPOSITION, AND THE ATTEMPT OF 
DEUSUS AT REFORM. 



The five consulships of Marius had been a gross violation of the 
constitution, only to be excused by the dangers of the times ; 

but the democratic party had no hope except 
Marius and jj^ ^.j^g ^.^jg ^f g^ single man ; and, as the time 
democrats ^^^ *^® consular elections approached, Marius 

became again a candidate for the consulship. 
He wished to be first in peace as well as in war, and to rule the 
state as well as the army. But he did not possess the qualities 
requisite for a popular leader at Rome ; he had no programme 
and no power of oratory, and he lost his presence of mind in 
the noise and shouts of the popular assemblies. 

To secure his election he entered into close connection with 
two of the most violent demagogues that ever appeared at Rome, 

Saturninus and Glaucia. The former was a can- 
Saturnlims didate for the tribunate, and the latter for the 

praetorship ; and by their means, as well as by 
bribing the tribes, Marius secured his election to the consulship 
for the sixth time. Glaucia also obtained the praetorship, but 
Saturninus was not equally successful. He lost his election 



Chap. XXIV.J ATTEMPTS OF THE OPPOSITION. 207 

chiefly through the exertions of A. Nonius, who was chosen in 
his stead. But assassination as a political weapon was coming 
into vogue ; on the evening of his election Nonius was murdered, 
- and next morning, at an early hour, before the forum was full, 
Saturninus was chosen to fill up the vacancy. 

As soon as Saturninus had entered upon his office (100 B.C.) 
he brought forward an Agrarian Law for dividing among the 
soldiers of Marius the lands in Gaul which had 
been lately occupied by the Cirabri, and to which s„^!.^- 
the state had as little right as the Cimbri them- 
selves. He added to the law a clause that, if it was enacted by 
the people, every senator should swear obedience to it within 
five days, and that whoever refused to do so should be expelled 
from the senate, and pay a fine of twenty talents. This clause, 
which completely reversed the established order of legislation, 
was employed by Marius to effect the ruin of Metellus. Marius 
rose in the senate, and declared that he would never take the 
oath, and Metellus made the same declaration ; but when the 
law had been passed, and Saturninus summoned the senators 
to the rostra to comply with the demands of the law, Marius, to 
the astonishment of all, immediately took the oath, and advised 
the senate to follow his example. Metellus alone refused com- 
pliance ; and on the following day Saturninus sent his beadle to 
drag him out of the senate-house. 

Not content with this victory, Saturninus brought forward a 
bill to punish him with exile. The friends of Metellus were 
ready to take up arms in his defence ; but he 
declined their assistance, and withdrew privately w^^^ii 
from the city. Saturninus brought forward other 
popular measures, such as. had already figured in the Gracchan 
programme. He proposed a Lex Frumentaria, by which the 
state was to sell corn to the people at a very low price ; and 
also a law for founding new colonies in Sicily, Achaia, and 
Macedonia. In the election of the magistrates for the following 
year Saturninus was again chosen tribune. Glaucia was at the 
same time a candidate for the consulship, the two other can- 
didates being M. Antonius and C. Memmius. The election of 
Antonius was certain, and the struggle lay between Glaucia and 
Memmius. But this stumbling-block was also removed, and 
Memmius, murdered openly in the comitia, fell a victim to his 



208 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXIV. 

own party. All sensible people had previously become alarmed 
at the mad conduct of Saturninus and his partisans; and the 
equites, who had hitherto supported Marius, swung over to the 
side of the government. The senate felt themselves now suffi- 
ciently strong to declare Glaucia and Saturninus public enemies, 
and invested the consuls with dictatorial power. Marius was 
unwilHng to act against his associates, but he had no alternative, 
and his backwardness was compensated by the zeal of others. 

Driven out of the forum, Saturninus, Glaucia, and the quaestor 
Saufeius, took refuge in the Capitol ; but the partisans of the 

senate cut off the pipes which supplied the citadel 
It ^^*^^ water before Marius began to move against 

them. Unable to hold out any longer, they sur- 
rendered to Marius. The latter did all he could to save their 
lives : as soon as they descended from the Capitol, he placed 
them, for security, in the Curia Hostilia, but the mob pulled off 
the tiles of the senate-house, and pelted them till they died. 
The senate gave their sanction to the proceeding, by rewarding 
with the citizenship a slave of the name of Scaeva, who claimed 
the honour of having killed Saturninus. 

Marius had lost all influence in the state by allying himself 
with such unprincipled adventurers. In the following year 

(99 B.C.) he left Eome, in order that he might 
t^Th'^ lF°r ^^^ witness the return of Metellus from exile — a 

measure which he had been unable to prevent. 
He set sail for Cappadocia and Galatia, under the pretence of 
offering services which he had vowed to the Great Mother. He 
had, however, a deeper purpose in visiting these countries. He 
longed for another military command that might restore him to 
power, and accordingly repaired to the coui-t of Mithridates, 
king of Pontus, to discover the lengths to which that monarch 
was likely to go in his opposition to Eome, and to make 
hostilities more certain by exciting the fears of the king. 

The mad scheme of Saturninus, and the discredit into which 
Marius had fallen, had given new strength to the senate. Un- 
mindful of the fact that it was through the support of the equites 
that their recent victory had been won, they judged the oppor- 
tunity favourable for depriving this order of the judicial power 
which they had enjoyed, with only a temporary cessation, since 
the time of C. Gracchus. 



Chap. XXIV.] REFORMS OF LIVIUS DRUSUS. 209 

The equites had abused their power, as the senate had done 
before them. They were the capitalists who farmed the public 
revenues in the provinces, where they committed 
peculation and extortion with habitual impunity. Abuse of 
Their possession of the courts gave them a com- gg^+es ^ ^ 
plete control over provincial governors, and their 
unjust condemnation of Rutilius Eufus had shown how unfit they 
were to be entrusted with judicial duties. Kutilius was a man of 
spotless integrity, and while acting as lieutenant to Q. Mucins 
Scaevola, proconsul of Asia in 98 B.C., he displayed so much 
honesty and firmness in repressing the extortions of the farmers 
of the taxes, that he became an object of fear and hatred to the 
whole body. Accordingly, on his return to Rome, a charge of 
malversation was trumped up against him ; he was found guilty, 
and compelled to withdraw into banishment (b.c. 92). 

The senate had learnt the lesson of the past ten years ; that 
section of the order which was genuinely desirous of reform was 
strong, and its representative, M. Livius Drusus, 
the son of the celebrated opponent of C. Gracchus, J^eforms of 

J , .-. r en i-u n^ 1 i. f I-IVIUS DrUSUS 

and tribune for 91 B.C., was the lory democrat ot ^.j^^ youneer 
the day. Full of aristocratic prejudices, and a firm 
believer in the rule of the nobility, he condescended to take some 
items from the current democratic programme. Laws granting 
the distribution of corn at a low price, and the establishment of 
colonies in Italy and Sicily, were thrown as a sop to the people, 
and he was thus enabled to carry his measures for the reform 
of the judicia ; which were that the senate should be increased 
from 300 to 600 by the addition of an equal number of equites, 
and that the judices should be taken from the senate thus doubled 
in numbers. Drusus aimed at a coalition government, which 
should keep the Radicals in check ; but this measure of com- 
promise was acceptable to neither party. The senators viewed 
with dislike the elevation to their own rank of 300 equites ; 
while the equites, who had no desire to transfer to a select few 
of their own order the profitable share in the administration of 
justice which they all enjoyed, were hopelessly alienated. 

Another measure of Drusus rendered him equally unpopular 
with the people. He had held out to the Latins and the Italian 
allies the promise of the Roman franchise. It may be doubtful 
what the intention of the similar proposal of C. Gracchus had 

p 



210 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXIV. 

been ; but there can be no doubt that Drusus was firmly con- 
vinced that the enfranchisement of Italy, by widening the basis 
of government, would ensure the safety of the state. The 
Eomau people, however, still looked askance at such a measure, 
and Drusus foundered on the rock which had proved fatal to 
C. Gracchus. But promises had been made to the allies ; it was 
too late to retreat ; and in order to oppose the formidable coalition 
against him, Drusus had recourse to a device which might easily 
be interpreted as treasonable. A secret society was formed, in 
which the members bound themselves by a solemn oath to have 
the same friends and foes with Drusus, and to obey all his com- 
mands. The ferment soon became so great that the public peace 
was more than once threatened. The allies were ready to take 
up arms at the first movement. 

The consuls, looking upon Drusus as a conspirator, resolved 
to meet his plots by counter-plots. But he knew his danger, 

and whenever he went into the city kept a strong 
Assassma ion i;)ody-guard of attendants close to his person. The 

end could not much longer be postponed ; and 
the civil war was on the point of breaking out, when one 
evening Drusus was assassinated in his own house, while dis- 
missing the crowds who were attending him. A leather-cutter's 
knife was found sticking in his loins. Turning round to those 
who surrounded him, he asked them, as he was dying, '• Friends 
and neighbours, when will the Commonwealth have a citizen 
like me again?" 

Even in the lifetime of Drusus the senate had, by the discovery 
of a technical flaw, repealed all his laws. The reaction after 

his death was terrible. The Tribune Q. Varius 
Tne varian brought forward a law declaring all persons guilty 

of high treason who had assisted the cause of the 
allies. Many leading men fell victims to the criminal commis- 
sion established by this law, and the measure, following the 
assassination of Drusus, roused the indignation of the allies to 
the highest pitch. They saw clearly that the Roman people 
would yield nothing except upon compulsion. 




Coin of the eight Italian nations taking the Oath of Federation. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE SOCIAL OR MARSIC WAR, AND THE INCORPORATION OF ITALY. 
90-89 B.C. 

The issue of the impending war was to decide whether Eome 

was to remain a dominant city in Italy, or to become merged as 

a subordinate state in an Italian confederation. 

Alone she could hardly have resisted the whole of ^^^T!^*;^- 

Til , . -^ . f. 1 1 communities. 

Italy ; but the insurrection was connned almost 

exclusively to the Sabellians and their kindred races. The 
Etruscans and Umbrians, where the capitalist class pre- 
ponderated, stood aloof; while the tribes or cities which had 
received the Roman franchise in whole or in part, such as the 
Sabines and Volscians, with the Latin colonies and the Greek 
towns such as Neapolis and Rhegium, were in the main faitliful 
to the Republic, and furnished the materials of her arm'es. 
The nations which composed the formidable conspiracy ; gainst 
Rome were originallj^ eight in number, — the Marsians, Paelignians, 
Marrucinians, Vestinians, Picentines, Samiiites, Apulians, and 
Lucanians. Of these the Marsians were particularly dis- 
tinguished for their courage and skill in war ; and from the 
prominent part which they took in the struggle, it was frequently 
termed the Marsic as well as the Social War. 

The war broke out at Asculum in Picenum. The Proconsul 
Q. Servilius, w ho had the charge of this part of Italy, hearing 
that the inhabitants of Asculum were organizing a 

revolt, entered the town, and endeavoured to per- „„A^j* ^^? „ 
, , 1 .',..., .' confeaeration, 

suade them to lay aside their hostiJe intentions. 

But he was murdered, together with his legate, by the exasperated 



212 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap, XXV. 

citizens, and all the Eomans in the place were likewise put 
to death. This was the signal for a general insurrection. Cor- 
finiura, a strong city of the Paeligni, to which the name of 
Italica was given, was fixed upon as the new capital of the 
Italian Confederation. The government of the new Italian 
Republic was modelled on that of Rome ; it was to have two 
consuls, twelve praetors, and a senate of 500 members. But 
if, as is probable, magistrates and senate were elected from all 
the confederate tribes and cities, Italica was not like Rome a 
city state, but the head of a federal government. Q. Pompaedius 
Silo, a Marsian, one of the chief instigators of the war, and 
C. Papiiis Mutilus, a Samnite, who cherished the hereditary 
hatred of his countrymen against the Romans, were chosen 
consuls. Under them were many able lieutenants, who had 
learnt the art of war under the best Roman generals. Their 
soldiers had served in the Roman armies, the weapons and 
discipline of the contending parties were the same, and the 
stiuggle presented many of the features of a civil war. But the 
Eomans had the advantage of unity of council, which a single 
state always possesses over a confederation. 

Our information of the details of the war is very meagre. 
But in the military operations we clearly see that the allies 
formed two principal groups ; the one composed of 
Srwar*'^ *^^ Mar^^ians, with their neighbours the Marru- 
cinians, Paelignians, Vestinians, and Picentines, — 
the other of the Samnites, with the Lucanians and Apulians. 
The two Roman consuls, L, Julius Caesar and P. Rutilius Lupus, 
took the field with powerful armies, and under them served 
Marius, Sulla, and the most experienced generals of the time. 
The Romans were fully aware of the formidable nature of the 
struggle, which was one for existence, and not for victory. In 
the first campaign the advantage was on the side of the allies. 
The Samnites, under their consul Papius, overran Campania, 
took most of the towns, and laid siege to Acerrae, into which 
Caesar threw himself. The Italian army in Central Italy was 
still more successful. There the Marsians under Cato defeated 
the Roman Consul P. Rutilius Lupus with gi"eat slaughter at the 
Tolenus, between Tibur and Alba, and Rutilius himself was slain 
in the battle. This disaster was to some extent repaired by 
Marius, who commanded a separate army in the neighbourhood. 



Chap. XXV.] THE SOCIAL WAR. 213 

and compelled the victorious allies to retire. The old general 
then intrenched himself in a fortified camp, and neither the 
stratagems nor the taunts of the Samnites could entice him from 
his advantageous position. " If you are a great general," said 
the Italian consul Pompaedius, " come down and fight ; " to 
which the veteran replied, " Na^^, do you, if j^ou are a great 
general, compel me to fight against n\y will." The Romans 
considered that Marius was over-cautious and too slow ; and 
Plutarch says that his age and corpulence rendered him incapable 
of enduring the fatigue of very active service. But it is more 
probable that he was not very willing to destroy the allies, who 
had been among his most active partisans, and to whom he still 
looked for support in his future struggles with the nobility. 

The Romans now saw the necessity of making some con- 
cessions. The Lex Julia, proposed by the consul Julius Caesar 
(90 B.C.), granted the franchise to those of the ^ .. 

allies who had up to that time rema'ned faithful 
to Rome. The effects of this concession were immediately seen. 
Several of the allied cities hastened to avail themselves of it, and 
disunion and distrust were produced among the rest. 

The next campaign (89 b.c.) \\ as decidedly favourable to the 
Romans. The consuls were Cn. Pompeius Strabo, the father of 
the great Pompey, and L. Porcius Cato. The 
latter, it is true, was slain at the commencement ^ ^^ ^ 
of the can)paign ; but his loss was more than 
compensated by his lieutenant Sulla obtaining, in consequence, 
the supreme command in the south. He carried on the war 
with the utmost vigour, and completely eclipsed his old com- 
mander Marius. He drove the enemy out of Campania, subdued 
the Hirpini, and then penetrated into the very heart of Samnium. 
Here he defeated Papius Mutihis, the Samnite consul, and 
followed up his victory by the capture of the strong town of 
Bovianum. 

Meanwhile Pompeius Strabo had been equally successful in 
the north. Asculum was reduced after a long and obstinate 
siege. The Marrucinians, Vestinians, Paelignians, 
and finally the Marsians, laid down their arms pf^iri^^ 
before the end of the year. Their submission 
was facilitated by the Lex Plautia Papiria, proposed by the 
tribunes M. Plautius Silvanus and C. Papirius Carbo (89 B.C.), 



214 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



[Chap. XXV 



which completed the arrangements of the Lex Julia, and 
granted, in fact, everything wliich the allies had demanded 
before the war. All citizens of a town in alliance with Eome 
could obtain, by this law, the Roman franchise, provided they 
were at the time resident in Italy, and registered their names 
with the praetor within sixty days.* 

The war, which had cost the lives of 300,000 men, the flower 
of Rome and Italy, was virtually concluded within two years, 
although the SamnHes and Lucanians still main- 
t' ®^°Pj^^?^^" tained a guerilla warfare in their mountains, 
and continued to keep possession of the strong 
fortress of Nola in Campania, from which all the efforts of Sulla 
failed to dislodge them. The result was to merge Italy in Rome, 
and to give the city-state a territory which stretched from 
the Padus to the Straits of Messina. But 
the franchise was grudgingly accorded; 
and the incorporation granted was, in 
deference to popular opinion at Rome, 
still very incomplete. The allies were 
enrolled in only eight of the thirty- five 
tribes, to prevent their outnimibering the 
old citizens ; nof could the suffrage be 
effectively exercised in the absence of 
representative institutions. But the 
value of the Roman citizenship was 
not to be measured by the voting power 
it conferred. The allies had gained the 
protection of the provocatio and the 
sanctity with which the Roman name 
invested them in the eyes of Roman 
proconsuls and barbarian kings. 

* A law of the consul Pompeius bestowed the 
Ijatin franchise upon all the citizens of the Gallic 
towns between the Po and Alps, the chief right so 
conferred being the attainment of Roman citizen- 
ship by any one who had held a magistracy in his 
iloman in toga. native town. 





Terracina. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



FIKST CIVIL WAR. 



-86 B.C. 



One reason which induced the senate to bring the Social War 
to a conclusion was the necessity of attacking Mithridates, king 
of Pontus, one of the ablest monarchs with 
whom Rome ever came into contact. It was Contest be-_ 
this foreign war, the origin and history of which ^| SuUa^^'^^ 
will be narrated in the following chapter, that 
was the occasion of the first armed struggle of factions at Rome, 
from the dispute it aroused between Marius and SuUa as to 
which should have the command against Mithridates. The 
ability which Sulla had displayed in the Social War, and his 
well-known attachment to the senatorial party, naturally maiked 
him out as the man to whom this important dignity was to be 
granted. He wis accordingly elected consul for the year 88 B.C., 
with Q Pompeius Rufus as his colleague ; and he forthwith 



216 HISTORY OF ROMK. [Chap. XXVI. 

received the command of tbe Mithridatic War. But Marius had 
long coveted this distinction ; he quitted the magnificent villa 
which he had built at Misenum, and took up his residence at 
Kome ; and, in order to show that neither his age nor his corpu- 
lence had destroyed his vigour, he repaired daily to the Campus 
Martins, and went through the usual exercises with the young 
men. He was determined not to yield without a struggle to his 
hated rival. As he had formerly employed the Tribune Satur- 
ninus to carry out his designs, so now he found an able instrument 
for his purpose in the Tribune P. Sulpicius Rufus. 

Sulpicius was one of the greatest orators of the age, and had 
acquired great influence by his splendid talents. He was an 
. . intimate friend of the Tribune M. Livius Drusus, 

and had been himself elected tribune for 88 B.C., 
through the influence of the senatorial party, who placed great 
hopes in him ; it has been suspected that his sudden defection 
to the democratic party was due to his being overwhelmed with 
debt, and to his having been promised by Marius a liberal share 
of the spoils of the Mithridatic War. Sulpicius now brought 
forward a law by which the Italians were to be disti-ibuted 
among the thirty-five tribes. As they far outnumbered the old 
Roman citizens, they would have an overwhelming majority in 
each tribe, and would certainly confer upon Marius the command 
of the Mithridatic War. To prevent the tribune from putting 
these rogations to the vote, the consuls declared a Justitium, 
during which no business could be legally transacted. But 
Sulpicius was resolved to carry his point ; with an armed band 
of followers he entered the forum, and called upon the consuls 
to withdraw their prohibition ; and upon their refusal to comply 
with his demand, he ordered his satelhtes to draw their swords 
and fall upon them. Pompeius escaped, but his son Quintus, 
who was also the son-in-law of Sulla, was killed. Sulla himself 
took refuge in the house of Marius, which was close to the 
forum, and in order to save his life he was obliged to remove 
the jusHlium. 

Sulla quitted Rome and hastened to his army, then besieging 
Nola, which was still held by the Samnites (see p. 214). The 
city was now in the hands of Sulpicius and Marius, and 
the Redistribution Bill passed into law without opposition, as 
well as a further decree conferring upon Marius the command 



Chap. XXVI.] FIRST CIVIL WAR. 217 

of the Mithridatic War. Marius lost no time in sending some 
officers of the legions to assume on his behalf the command of the 
army at Nola ; but the soldiers, who loved Sulla, 
and who feared that Marius might lead another Passing of 
army to Asia, and thus deprive them of their , ^ ^ pician 
anticipated plunder, stoned his deputies to death. 

Sulla found his soldiers ready to respond to his wishes ; they 
called upon him to lead them to Rome, and deliver the city from 
the tyrants. He therefore hesitated no longer, 
but at the head of six legions broke up from his Rome^*' ^^ 
encampment at Nola, and marched towards the 
city. His officers, however, refused to serve against their 
country, and all quitted him, wrth the exception of one quaestor. 
This was the first time that a Roman had ever marched at the 
head of Roman troops against the city. Marius was taken by 
surprise. Such was the reverence that the Romans entertained 
for law, that it seems never to have occurred to him or to his 
party that Sulla would venture to draw his sword against the 
state. Mai'ius attempted to gain time for preparations by for- 
Itidding Sulla, in the name of the Republic, to advance any 
further ; but the praetors who carried this command narrowly 
escaped bemg murdered by the soldiers ; and Marius, as a 
last resource, offered liberty to the slaves who would join 
him. 

But it was all in vain. Sulla forced his way into the city, and 
Marius took to flight with his son and a few followers. Sulla 
used his victory with moderation. He protected 
the city from plunder ; and only Marius, Sulpicius, j^^^. ° 
and ten others of his bitterest enemies, were 
declared public enemies by the senate. Sulpicius was betrayed 
by one of his slaves, and put to death ; but Marius and his son 
succeeded in making their escape. Marius himself embarked 
on board a ship at Ostia, with a few companions, and then 
sailed southward along the coast of Italy. At Circeii he and 
his companions were obliged to land on account of the violence 
of the wind and the want of provisions. After wandering 
about for a long time they learnt from some peasants that a 
number of horsemen had been in search of them; and they 
accordingly turned aside from the road, and passed the night in 
a deep wood in great want. But the indomitable spirit of the 



218 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXVI. 

old man did not fail him ; and he consoled himself and encouraged 
his companions by the assurance that he should still live to see 
his seventh consulship, in accordance with a prediction that had 
been made to him in his youth. Shortly afterwards, when they 
were near to Minturnae, they descried a party of horsemen 
galloping towards them. In great haste they hurried down to 
the sea, and swam off' to two merchant-vessels, which received 
them on board. The horsemen bade the crew bring the ship to 
land or throw Marius overboard; but, moved by his tears and 
entreaties, they refused to surrender him. The sailors soon 
changed their minds ; and, fearing to keep Marius, they cast 
anchor at the mouth of the Liris, where they persuaded him to 
disembark, and rest himself from his fatigues till a wind should 
rise ; but they had no sooner landed him than they immediately 
sailed away. Marius was now quite alone amid the swamps 
and marshes through which the Liris flows. With difficulty he 
reached the hut of an old man, who concealed him in a hole 
near the river, and covered him with reeds ; but hearing shortly 
afterwards the noise of his pursuers, he crept out of his hiding- 
place and threw himself into the marsh. He was discovered^ 
and dragged out of the water ; and, covered with mud and with 
a rope round his neck, was delivered up to the authorities of 
Minturnae. The magistrates then deliberated whether they 
should comply with the instruction that had been sent from 
Rome to all the municipal towns to put Marius to death as soon 
as they found him. After some consultation the\' resolved to 
obey it, and sent a Cimbrian slave to carry out their orders. 
The room in which the old general was confined was dark ; and, 
to the frightened barbarian, the eyes of Marius seemed to dart 
forth fire, and from the darkness a terrible vo'ce shouted out, 
" Man ! durst thou slay Cains Marius ? " The barbarian immedi- 
ately threw down his sword, and rushed out of the house, 
exclaiming, "I cannot kill Cains Marius!" Straightway there 
was a revulsion of feeling among the inhabitants of Minturnae. 
They repented of their ungrateful conduct towards a man who 
had saved Rome and Italy. They got ready a ship for his 
departure, provided him with everything necessary for the 
voyage, and, with prayers and wishes for his safety, placed him 
on board. The wind carried him to the island of Aenaria (now 
Ischia), where he found the rest of his friends ; and from thence 



Chap. XXVI.] FIRST CIVIL WAR. 219 

he set sail for Africa, which he reached in safety. He landed 
near the site of Carthage, but he had scarcely put his foot on 
shore before the praetor Sextilius sent an officer to bid him 
leave the country, or else he would carry into execution the 
decree of the senate. This last blow almost unmanned Marius. 
Grief and indignation for a time deprived him of speech, and his 
only reply was, " Tell the praetor that you have seen Caius 
Marius a fugitive sitting on the ruins of Carthage." Shortly 
afterwards Marius was joined by his son, and they crossed over to 
the island of Cercina, where they remained unmolested. 

Meantime a revolution had taken place at Rome, which pre- 
pared the way for the return of Marius to Italy. Sulla's soldiers 
were impatient for the plunder of Asia, and he 
had abruptly to interrupt his great work of the ^^P^^]^ "^ *"® 
reform of the constitution, M'hich he had alreadv ]o„g 
commenced. After securing the repeal of tlie 
Sulpician laws, he sent forward his legions to Capua, that they 
might be ready to embark for Greece ; he himself remained 
in Rome till the consuls were elected for the following year, to 
secure if possible the support of his interests in the capital during 
his absence in Asia. But the candidates whom he recommended 
were rejected, and the choice fell on Cn. Octavius, who belonged 
to the aristocratical party, but was a weak and irresolute man, 
and on L. Cinna, a professed champion of the popular side. 

Sulla did not attempt to oppose their election : to have recalled 
his legions to Rome would have been a dangerous experiment 
when the soldiers were so eager for the spoils of 
the East ; and he only took the vain precaution j^j^ *^^^ ^ 
of making Cinna promise that he would make no 
attempt to disturb the existing order of things. But as soon as 
Sulla had quitted Italy, Cinna again brought forward the law for 
incorporating the new Italian citizens among the thirty-five 
tribes. The two consuls had recourse to arms — Octavius to 
oppose, and Cinna to carry the law. A dreadful conflict took 
place in the forum. The party of Octavius obtained the victory, 
and Cinna was driven out of the city with great slaughter. But 
in spite of this repulse, he was soon at the head of a formidable 
army composed chiefly of the new citizens, whose cause he had 
espoused. 

As soon as Marius heard of these changes he set sail from 



220 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXVL 

Africa, and offered to serve uuder Cinna, who gladly accepted his 
proposal, and named him proconsul ; but Marius refused all 

marks of honour. The sufferings and privations 
Cinna^ *° ^^ ^^^ endured had exasperated his proud and 

haughty spirit almost to madness, and nothing but 
the blood of his enemies could appease his resentment. He 
continued to wear a mean and humble dress, and his hair and 
beard had remained unshorn from the day he had been driven 
out of Rome. After joining Cinna, Marius prosecuted the war 
with great vigour. He first captured the corn-ships, and thus 
cut off Rome from its usual supply of food. He next took Ostia 
and the other towns on the sea-coast; then, marching north- 
ward, he encamped on the Janiculura. Famine began to rage 
in the city, and the senate were obliged to yield. They sent a 
deputation to Cinna and Marius, inviting them into the city, but 
entreating them to spare the citizens. Cinna received the 
deputies sitting in his chair of office, and gave them a kind 
answer. Marius stood in silence by the side of the consul, but 
his looks spoke louder than words. 

After the audience was over they entered the city. The most 
frightful scenes followed. The Consul Octavius was slain while 

seated in his curule chair. The streets ran with 
ftTome^^ the noblest blood of Rome. Every one whom 

Marius hated or feared was hunted out and put 
to death ; and no consideration, either of rank, talent, or former 
friendship, induced him to spare the victims of his vengeance. 
The great orator, M. Antonius, fell by the hands of his assassins ; 
and his former colleague, Q. Catulus, who had triumphed with 
him over the Cimbri, was obliged to put an end to his own life. 
Cinna was soon tired of the butchery ; but the appetite of Marius 
seemed only whetted by the slaughter, and daily required fresh 
victims for its gratification. 

Without going through the form of an election, Marius and 
Cinna named themselves consuls for the following year (86 B.C.), 

and thus was fulfilled the prediction that Marius 
jialvivLS should be seven times consul. But he did not 

long enjoy the honour : he was now in his seventy- 
first year; his body was worn out by the fatigues and sufferings 
he had recently undergone ; and on the eighteenth day of his con- 
sulship he died of an attack of pleurisy, after a few days' illness. 




Mount Argaeus in Cappadocia. 



CHAPTEE XXVII. 



FIRST MITHKIDATIC WAR. 



^-84 B.C. 



The kingdom of Pontus, which derived its name from being on 
the coast of the Pontus Euxinus, or Black Sea, was originally 
a satrapy of the Persian Empire, extending from 
the river Halys on the west to the frontiers of f pontus 
Colchis on the east. Even under the later 
Persian kings the rulers of Pontus were really independent ; and 
in the wars of the successors of Alexander the Great it became 
a separate kingdom. Most of its kings bore the name of 
Mithridates ; and the fifth monarch of this name formed an 
alHance with the Romans, and was rewarded with the province 
of Phrygia for the services he had rendered them in the war 
against Aristonicus (p. 177). 



222 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXVIl. 

He was assassinated about 120 b.c, and was succeeded by his 
son Mithridates VI., commonly called the Great, who was then 
. . only about twelve years of age. The young 

1 ri a es. jj^Qn^^ch grew up to be the type of ruler which 
is the ideal of the Eastern mind. His vast strength and powers 
of endurance, his matchless skill in arms and the restless vigour of 
his mind were emblems of that power under which the Oriental 
loves to be crushed, and whose guidance he will ever follow. A 
careful training had still further developed these natural gifts. 
As a boy, Mithridates had been brought up at Sinope, where he 
had probably received the elements of a Greek education, and 
so powerful was his memory that he is said to have learnt not 
less than twenty-five languages, and to have been able, in the 
days of his greatest power, to transact business with the deputies 
of every tribe subject to his rule in their own peculiar dialect. 

As soon as he was firmly established on the throne, he began 
to turn his arms against the neighbouring nations. On the west 

his progress was hemmed in bj' the power of 
ExtMision of Rome, and the minor sovereigns of Bithynia and 

Cappadocia enjoyed the all-powerful protection of 

theKepublic. But on the east his ambition found 
free scope. He subdued the barbarian tribes between the 
Euxine and the confines of Armenia, including the whole of 
Colchis and the province called Lesser Armenia ; and he even 
added to his dominions the Tauric Chersonesus, now called the 
Crimea. The Greek kingdom of Bosporus, which formed a 
portion of the Chersonesus, likewise submitted to his sway. He 
further strengthened himself by alliances with Tigranes, king of 
Greater Armenia, to whom he gave his daughter Cleopatra in 
marriage, and with the warlike nations of the Parthians and 
Iberians. He thus found himself in possession of power and 
resources sufficient to make him deem himself equal to a contest 
with Rome itself. 

Many causes of dissension had already arisen. Shortly after 
his accession the Eomans had taken advantage of his minority 

to wrest from him the province of Phrygia. In 
Mithridates 93 ^ ,^_ ^^^^ resisted his attempt to place upon 
with Some ^^ throne of Cappadocia one of his own nephews, 

and appointed a Cappadocian named Ariobarzanes 
to be king of that country. For a time Mithridates submitted, 



Chap. XXVII. J MITHRIDATES IN CONFLICT WITH ROME. 223 

but the death of Nicomedes II, king of Bithynia brought 
matters to a crisis. That monarch was succeeded by his eldest 
son Nicomedes III., but Mithridates took the opportunity to set 
up a rival claimant, whose pretensions he supported with an 
army, and quickly drove Nicomedes out of Bithynia (90 B.C.). 
About the same time his generals openly invaded Cappadocia, 
and expelled Ariobarzanes from his kingdom, establishing the 
Pontic pretender Ariarathes in his place. Both the fugitive princes 
had recourse to Rome, where they found ready support : a 
decree was passed that Nicomedes and Ariobarzanes should be 
restored to their respective kingdoms, and the execution of it 
was confided to M'. Aquillius and L. Cassius. 

Mithridates again yielded, and the two fugitive kings were re- 
stored to their dominions ; but no sooner was Nicomedes replaced 
on the throne of Bithynia than he was urged by the Roman 
legates to invade the territories of Mithridates, into which he 
made a predatory incursion. Mithridates offered no resistance, 
but sent to the Romans to demand satisfaction, and it was not 
until his ambassador was dismissed with an evasive answer that 
he prepared for immediate hostilities ^88 B.C.). His first step 
was to invade Cappadocia, from which he easily expelled 
Ariobarzanes once more. His generals drove Nicomedes out 
of Bithynia, and defeated AquilHus. 

Mithridates, following up his advantage, not only made him- 
self master of Phrygia and Galatia, but invaded the Roman 
province of Asia. Here the universal discontent 
of the inhabitants, caused by the oppression of the Mithridates in- 
Roman governors, enabled him to overrun the 
whole province almost without opposition. The Roman officers, 
who had imprudently brought this danger upon themselves, were 
unable to collect any forces to oppose his progress ; and Aquillius 
himself, the chief author of the war, fell into the hands of the 
king of Pontus. 

Mithridates took up his winter quarters at Pergamus, where 
he issued the sanguinary order to all the cities of Asia to put to 
death on the same day all the Roman and Italian 
citizens who were to be found within their walls, ^^.ssacre of 
So hateful had the Romans rendered themselves Italians 
during the short period of their dominion, that 
these commands were obeyed with alacrity by almost all the 



224 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXVII. 

cities of Asia. Eighty thousand persons are said to have 
perished in this fearful massacre. 

The success of Mithridates encouraged the Athenians to join 
the Uberator of the East; and the king accordingly sent his 

general Archelaus with a large army and fleet into 
Greek cities Greece. Most of the Greek states had declared 
^ ' for the king when Sulla landed in Epirus in 87 

B.C. He immediately marched southwards, and laid siege to 
Athens and the Piraeus. For many months all his attacks 
were resisted ; but Athens at last surrendered in the spring of 
the following year ; and Archelaus, despairing of defending the 
Piraeus, withdrew into Boeotia, where he received some powerful 
reinforcements from Mithridates. 

The Eoman array now captured the Piraeus, and Athens 
and her seaport were given up to plunder. This, however, 

was the only penalty which the Athenians suffered 
Mke^'^^ °^ ^^^" *'^®^'" treachery ; their state, in virtue of the 

memories of the past, was still allowed to remain a 
free city. 

Sulla then turned against Archelaus in Boeotia, and defeated 
him with enormous loss at Chaeronea. Out of the 110,000 men 

of which the Pontic army consisted, Archelaus 
Battle of assembled only 10,000 at Chalcis in Euboea, where 

he had taken refuge. Mithridates, on receiving 
news of this great disaster, immediately set about raising fresh 
troops, and was soon able to send another army of 80 000 men 
to Euboea. But he now found himself threatened with danger 
from a new and unexpected quarter. While Sulla was still 
occupied in Greece, the party of Marius at Piome had sent a 
fresh army to Asia under the Consul L. Valerius Flaccus, to 
carry on the war at once against their foreign and domestic 
enemies. Flaccus was murdered by his troops at the instigation 
of Fimbria, who now assumed the command, and gained several 
victories over Mithridates and his generals in Asia (85 B.C.). 

About the same time the new army, which the king had 
sent to Archelaus in Greece, was defeated by Sulla in the 

neighbourhood of Orchomenus. These repeated 



Battle of 
Orohomen 

(84 B.C.), when, unmoved by the triumph of his enemies at 



- disasters made Mithridates anxious for peace, but 

it was not granted by Sulla till the following year 



Chap. XXVII.] 



RETURN OF SULLA. 



225 



home, he resolved to finish the work by carrying the war into 
Asia. 

The terms of peace were definitely settled at an interview 
which the l^oman general and the Pontic king had at Dardanus 
in the Troad. Mithridates consented to abandon 
all his conquests in Asia, to restrict himself to the lynthridates 
dominions which he held before the commence- 
ment of the war, to pay a sum of 2000 talents, and to surrender 
to the Romans his present fleet of seventy ships fully equipped. 

Sulla was now at liberty to turn his arms against Fimbria, 
who was with his army at Thyatira. His name was sufficient 
to cause the troops of Fimbria to desert their 
general, who put an end to his own fife. Sulla g„ji„ 
now prepared to return to Italy. After exacting 
enormous sums from the wealthy cities of Asia, he left his 
legate, L. Licinius Murena, in command of that province, with 
two legions, and set sail with his own army to Athens. While 
preparing for his deadly struggle in Italy, he did not lose his 
interest in literature. He carried with him from Athens to 
Rome the valuable library of Apellicon of Teos, which contained 
most of the works of Aristotle and Theophrastus. 




Oota of Nicomedes III., King of Bithynia. 




CHAPTER XXVIII. 

SECOND CniL WAK — 

Sulla's dictator- 
ship. LEGISLATION, 
AND DEATH. 83-78 
B.C. 

Sulla landed at Brun- 
dusium in the spring of 

83 B.C., 
Fruitless j j^ ^ j, g 

negotiations ■, 

of the senate, consul- 

ship of L. 
Scipio and C. Norbanus. 
During the preceding 
j^ear he had written to 
the senate, recounting 
the services he had 
rendered to the com- 
monwealth, complaining 
of the ingratitude witli 
which he had been 
treated, announcing his 
speedy return to Italy, 
and threatening to take 
vengeance upon his 
enemies and those of 
the Repubhc. The 
senate, in alarm, sent 
an embassy to Sulla to 



Chap. XXVIII.] SECOND CIVIL WAR. 227 

endeavour to bring about a reconciliation between him and his 
enemies, and meantime ordered the consuls Cinna and Carbo 
to desist from levying troops and making further preparations 
for war. 

Cinna and Carbo gave no heed to this command ; they knew 
that a reconcihation was impossible, and resolved to cross the 
Adriatic with an army in order to oppose Sulla in 
Greece ; but, after one detachment of their troops /j;^Ia^'^ ° 
had embarked, the rest of the soldiers rose in 
mutiny, and murdered Cinna. The Marian party had thus lost 
their chief leader, but continued nevertheless to make every 
preparation to resist Sulla, for tliej^ were well aware that he 
would never forgive them, and that their only choice lay between 
victory and destruction. 

Besides this the Italians were ready to support them, as these 
new citizens feared that Sulla would deprive them of the rights 
which they had lately obtained after so much 
bloodshed. The Marian party had every prospect I'^P^^^tions 
of victory, for their troops far exceeded those 
of their opponent. They had 200,000 men in arms, while Sulla 
landed at Brnndusium with only 30,000, or at the most 40,000 
men. But, on the other hand, the popular party had no one of 
sufficient influence and military reputation to take the supreme 
command in the war ; their vast forces were scattered about 
Italy, in different armies, under different generals ; the soldiers 
had no confidence in their commanders, and no enthusiasm in 
their cause ; and the consequence was, that whole hosts of them 
deserted to Sulla on the first opportunity. Sulla's soldiers, on 
the contrary, were veterans, who had frequently fought by each 
other's sides, and had acquired that confidence in themselves 
and in their general which frequent victories always give. Still, 
if the Italians had remained faithful to the cause of the Marian 
party, Sulla would hardly have conquered, and therefore one of 
his first cares after landing at Brundusium was to detach them 
from his enemies. 

For this purpose he would not allow his troops to do any 
injury to the towns or fields of the Italians in his march from 
Brundusium through Calabria and Apulia, and « n > 
he formed separate treaties with many of the ^ ^^^' 

Italian towns, by which he secured to them all the rights and 



228 HISTORV OF ROME. [Chap. XXVIII. 

privileges of Eoman citizens which they then enjoyed. Among 
the Italians the Samnites continued to be the most formidable 
enemies of Sulla. They had joined the Marian party, not 
simply with the design of securing the supremacy for the latter, 
but with the hope of conquering Kome by their means, and then 
destroying for ever their hated oppressor. Thus this civil war 
became merely another phase of the social war, and the struggle 
between Rome and Samnium for the supremacy of the peninsula 
was renewed after the subjection of the latter for more than 
two hundred years. 

Sulla marched from Apulia into Campania without meeting 

with any resistance. In Campania he gained his first victory 

over the consul Norbanus, who was defeated 

Scff5s°army. ^^*^ ^^^* ^°^^» ^^^^ obliged to take refuge in 
Capua. His colleague Scipio, who was at no 
great distance, willingly accepted a truce which Sulla offered 
him, although Sertorius, the ablest of the Marian generals, 
warned him against entering into any negotiations. His caution 
was justified by the event. By means of his emissaries Sulla 
seduced the troops of Scipio, who at length found himself 
deserted by all his soldiers, and was taken prisoner in his 
tent. Sulla dismissed him uninjured under the pretence that 
the convention now concluded bound the whole of the revolu- 
tionary party, which should lay down its arms immediately or 
become public enemies of Rome. This suborning of Scipio's 
troops led Carbo to observe " that he had to contend in Sulla 
both with a lion and a fox, but that the fox gave him more 
trouble." Many distinguished Romans meantime had taken up 
arms on behalf of Sulla. Cn. Pompeius, the son of Cn. 
Pompeius Strabo, then only twenty-three years of age, levied 
three legions in Picenum and the surrounding districts ; and Q. 
Metellus Pius, M. Crassus, M. Lucullus, and several others offered 
their services as legates. It was not, however, till the following 
year (82 B.C.) that the struggle was brought to a decisive issue. 
The consuls of this year were Cn. Papirius Carbo and the younger 
Marius ; the former of whom was entrusted with the protection 
of Etruria and Umbria, while the latter had to guard Rome and 
Latium. Sulla appears to have passed the winter at Campania. 
At the commencement of spring he advanced against the 
younger Marius, who had concentrated all his forces at 



Chap. XXVIIL] SECOND CIVIL WAR. 229 

Sacriportus, and defeated him with gi-eat loss. Marius took refuge 
in Praeneste ; and Sulla, after leaving Q. Lucretius Ofella with a 
large force to blockade the town, marched with 
the main body of his army to Rome. Marius was pl^eneste 
resolved not to perish unavenged, and accordingly, 
l)efore Sulla could reach Rome, he sent orders to L. Damasippus, 
the praetor, to put to death all his leading opponents. His 
orders were faithfully obeyed. Q. Mucins Scaevola, the Pontifex 
Maximus and jurist, P. Antistius, L. Domitius, and many other 
distinguished men were butchered, and their corpses thrown into 
the Tiber. Sulla entered the city without opposition, and 
marched against Carbo, who had been previously opposed by 
Pompey and Metellus. The history of this part of the war is 
involved in great obscurity. Carbo made two efforts to relieve 
Praeneste, but failed in each ; and, after fighting with various 
fortune against Pompey, Metellus, and Sulla, he at length 
embarked for Africa, despairing of further success in Italy. 

Meantime Rome had nearly fallen into the hands of the enemy. 
The Samnites under Pontius Telesinus and the Lucanians 
under M. Lamponius, after attempting to relieve 

Praeneste, resolved to march straight upon Rome, n^n-^l n„*„^ 
,.,,1, T p • ^ ^ . Colliiie Gate. 

which had been lert without any army for its pro- 
tection. Sulla arrived barely in time to save the city. The 
battle was fought before the Colline Gate ; it was a long and 
obstinate contest, the issue of which was not merely the 
supremacy of a party : for the very existence of Rome was at 
stake, and Pontius had declared that he would raze the city to the 
ground. The left wing, where Sulla commanded in person, was 
driven oiF the field by the vehemence of the enemy's charge ; 
but the success of the right wing, which was commanded bj^ 
Crassus, enabled Sulla to restore the battle, and at length gain 
a complete victory. Fifty thousand men are said to have fallen 
on each side. All the most distinguished leaders of the Marian 
party either perished in the engagement, or were taken prisoners 
and put to death. Among these was the brave Samnite Pontius, 
whose head was cut off and carried under the walls of Praeneste, 
thereby announcing to the younger Marius that his last hope of 
succour was gone. To the Samnite prisoners Sulla showed no 
mercy. He was resolved to root out of the peninsula those 
heroic enemies of Rome. On the third day after the battle he 



230 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXVllI. 

collected all the Samnite and Lucanian captives in the Campiis 
Martius, and ordered his soldiers to cut them down. The dying 
shrieks of so many victims alarmed the senators, who had been 
assembled by Sulla in the neighbouring temple of Bellona ; but 
he bade them attend to what he was saying, and not mind what 
was taking place outside, as he was only chastising some rebels. 
Praeneste surrendered soon afterwards. The Eomans in the 
town were pardoned ; but the Samnites and Praenestines were 
Surrender of massacred without mercy. The younger Marius 
Praeneste. put an end to his own life. The war in Italy was 
Sulla master now virtually at an end, for the few towns which 
of Italy. g^iu |;^g^(j Q^^ l^ad no prospect of offering any 

effectual opposition, and were reduced soon afterwards. In other 
parts of the Roman world the war continued still longer, and 
Sulla did not live to see its completion. The armies of the 
Marian party in Sicily and Africa were subdued by Pompey in 
the course of the same year; but Sertorius in Spain continued 
to defy all the attempts of the senate till 72 B.C. 

Sulla was now master of Rome. He had not commenced the 
civil war, but had been driven to it by the mad ambition of 
Marius. His enemies had attempted to deprive him of the 
command in the Mithridatic War, which had been legally con- 
ferred upon him by the senate ; and, while he was fighting the 
battles of the Republic, they had declared him a public enemy, 
confiscated his property, and murdered the most distinguished 
of his friends and adherents. For all these wrongs Sulla had 
threatened to take the most ample vengeance ; and he more 
than redeemed his word. He resolved to extirpate the popular 
party root and branch, and renew in a legalized form the indis- 
criminate massacres of his Marian rivals. 

One of his first acts was to draw up a list of his enemies who 
were to be put to death, which list was exhibited in the forum 
to public inspection, and called a proscriptio* 
scrii^ion ^* ^^^ ^^ ^^^* instance of the kind in Roman 

history. All persons in this list were outlaws, 
who might be killed by any one with impunity ; their property 
was confiscated to the state ; their children and grandchildren 
were for ever excluded from all public offices. Further, all who 

* Proscriptio means literally the " notice of sale " of the goods of outlawed 
persons. It was here exten<1ed to include the act of outlawry. 



Chap. XXVIIl.] DICTATORSHIP OF SULLA. 231 

killed a proscribed person, or indicated the place of his conceal- 
ment, received two talents as a reward, and whoever sheltered 
such a person was punished with death. Terror now reigned, 
not only at Rome, but throughout Italy. Fresh lists of the pro- 
scribed constantly appeared. No one was safe ; for Sulla 
gratified his friends by placing in the fatal lists their personal 
enemies, or individuals whose property was coveted by his 
adherents. An estate, a house, or even a piece of plate, was to 
many a man, who belonged to no political party, his death- 
warrant ; for, although the confiscated property belonged to the 
state, and had to be sold by public auction, the friends and 
dependents of Sulla purchased it at a nominal price, as no one 
dared to bid against them. Oftentimes Sulla did not require the 
purchase-money to be paid at all, and in many cases he gave 
such property to his favourites without even the formality of a 
sale. Four thousand seveu hundred names are said to have 
found their way into the SuUan proscription lists. 

At the commencement of these horrors Sulla had been ap- 
pointed dictator. As there were no consuls, he caused the 
senate to elect Valerius Flaccus interrex, and the 
latter brought before the people a rogatio, con- Sulla 
ferring the dictatorship upon Sulla, for the purpose ^wotQ]. 
of restoring the Republic, and for as long a time 
as he judged to be necessary, and giving a retrospective sanction 
to his acts (81 B.C.). This dictatorship had little resemblance 
to the occasional office of the early Republic. It was practically 
a restoration of the monarchy, and foreshadowed the autocratic 
power of Caesar in later times. But the new ruler did not mean 
to be king. His dictatorship was only a provisional government 
by which he meant to place the government of the RepubHc on 
a firm and secure basis. Consuls were chosen for the following 
year (81 b.c), and Sulla was elected to the office himself in 
80 B.C., while he continued to be dictator. 

At the beginning of 81 B.C. Sulla celebrated a splendid triumph 
on account of his victory over Mithridates. In a speech which 
he delivered to the people at the close of the gorgeous ceremony, 
he claimed for himself the surname of Felix, as he attributed his 
success in Hfe to the favour of the gods. All ranks in Rome 
bowed in awe before their master ; and among other marks of 
distinction which were voted to him by the obsequious senate, 



232 HISTORY OF ROME, [Chap. XXVIII. 

a gilt equestrian statue was erected to his honour before the 
Rostra, bearing the inscription, " Cornelio Sullae Imperatori 
Felici." 

During the years 80 and 79 B.C. Sulla completed his various 
reforms in the constitution, of which an account is given at the 
end of this chapter. Two questions which im- 
f Tt 1 mediately engaged his attention were the punish- 

ment of the rebel communities in Italy, and the 
rewards to his soldiers. Both were settled by the same means. 
Although he wisely upheld the distribution of the new Italian 
citizens in the thirty-five tribes, the inhabitants of those Italian 
towns which had fought against him were deprived of the full 
Roman franchise which had been lately conferred upon them, 
while their lands were confiscated and given to the soldiers who 
had fought under him. 

A great number of these colonists were settled in Etruria. 
They had the strongest interest in upholding the new institu- 
tions, since any attempt to invalidate the latter 
Settlement oi ^q^j^j j^ave endangered their newly acquired pos- 
sessions. But, though they were a support to the 
power of Sulla, they hastened the fall of the commonwealth ; 
nothing could change the idle and licentious soldiery into agri- 
culturists ; and Catiline found nowhere more adherents than 
among the Sullan veterans. While Sulla thus established 
throughout Italy a population devoted to his interests, he created 
at Rome a kind of body-guard for his protection by giving the 
citizenship to a great number of slaves belonging to the pro- 
scribed. The slaves thus rewarded are said to have been as 
many as 10,000, and were called Cornelii after him as their 
patron. 

Sulla had completed his reforms by the beginning of 79 B.C. ; 
and as he longed for the undisturbed enjoyment of his pleasures, 
he resigned his dictatorship, and declared himself 
Sulla_ resigns ready to render an account of his conduct while 
Lis dictator- j^ ^^^^^ rj.^.^ voluntary abdication by Sulla of 
the sovereignty of the Roman world has excited 
the astonishment and admiration of both ancient and modern 
writers. But it is evident that Sulla never contemplated, like 
JuUus Caesar, the establishment of a monarchical form of govern- 
ment; and both his life and his institutions were strongly 



Chap. XXVIII.] DEATH OF SULLA. 233 

guarded against attack. The 10,000 Cornelii at Eome, and his 
veterans stationed throughout Italy, as well as the whole strength 
of the aristocratical party, secured him against all danger. Even 
in his retirement his will was law^ and shortly before his death 
he ordered his slaves to strangle a magistrate of one of the 
towns in Italy, because he was a public defaulter. 

After resigning his dictatorship, Sulla retired to his estate at 
Puteoli, and there, surrounded by the beauties of nature and 
art, he passed the remainder of his life in those _. 
literary and sensual enjoyments in which he had 
always taken so much pleasure. He died in 78 B.C., in the 
sixtieth year of his age, of apoplexy brought on by a fit of pas- 
sion. The senate, faithful to the last, resolved to give him the 
honour of a public funeral. This was, however, opposed by the 
Consul Lepidus, who had resolved to attempt the repeal of 
Sulla's laws ; but the dictator's power continued unshaken even 
after his death. The veterans were summoned from their 
colonies, and Q. Catulus, L. Lucullus, and Cn. Pompeius placed 
themselves at their head. Lepidus was obliged to give way, 
and allowed the funeral to take place without interruption. It 
was a gorgeous pageant. The magistrates, the senate, the 
equites, the priests, and the Vestal virgins, as well as the 
veterans, accompanied the funeral procession to the Campus 
Martius, where the corpse was burnt according to the wish of 
Sulla himself, who feared that his enemies might insult his 
remains, as he had done those of Marius, which had been taken 
out of the grave and thrown into the Anio at his command. It 
had been previously the custom of the Cornelia gens to bury 
and not burn their dead. A monument was erected to Sulla in 
the Campus Martius, the inscription on which he is said to have 
composed himself. It stated that none of his friends ever did 
him a kindness, and none of his enemies a wrong, without being 
fully repaid. 

All the reforms of Sulla were effected by means of leges, 

which were proposed by him in the Comitia Centuriata, and 

bore the general name of Leges Gorveliae. The 

main object of his reforms was to restore the °5-? ?. 

J.1 j.Li-^ TIT.- J constitution. 

senate s power and to set it on a legal basis; and, 

in order to secure its permanence, to weaken the authority both 

of the magistrates and of the people. 



234 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXVIII. 

His efforts were primarily directed against the tribunate. 
This magistracy, which had first served the interests of the 
plebs, and afterwards those of the senate, had now 
Changesin degenerated into a weapon which was used by 
straw^^" powerful party-leaders for their own aggrandize- 

ment. Sulla took away from the tribunes their 
right of initiative in legislation, by prohibiting them from pro- 
posing measures except on the request of the senate. He also 
subordinated their power of veto to a similar control. To 
degrade the tribunate still further, he made the holding of this 
office a bar to all further advancement in the state ; it ceased to 
be a stepping-stone and became a stumbling-block in the path 
to the higher magistracies. 

The danger of prolonged and unusual commands had recently 
been exhibited; Sulla consequently re-enacted the Leijes Annnles, 
making it necessary to hold the quaestorship before the praetor- 
ship, and the praetorship before the consulship ; and he also 
forbade the same magistracy to be held a second time until 
after the expiration of ten years. But it was military com- 
mand in the provinces, and its frequent combination with 
a home magistracy, that chiefly threatened danger to the 
state. Sulla secured a complete separation between home and 
foreign command. After his time the consul or praetor no 
longer takes the field. He is confined to civil duties during 
his year of office, and only then goes out as proconsul or 
propraetor. 

The priestly colleges (especially those of the pontiffs and 
augurs) were of hardly less political importance than the magis- 
tracies. By a Lex Domitia of 104 B.C. the right 
^"lle^^s"^^^^^ ^^ ^^'^^S ^V tbese corporations had been given to 
' an assembly of seventeen out of the thirty-five 

tribes. Sulla restored the old principle of co-optatin, by which 
the members of these bodies added to their own numbers, and 
thus rendered these corporations more aristocratic. 

The popular voice was necessarily restricted by the limitations 

on the tribunate ; for the Assembly of the Plebs could now only 

ratify the decrees of the senate ; it still, however, 

^^ *^5 elected the plebeian magistrates. The power of 

' the Assembly of the Centuries was left technically 

unimpaired, but Sulla abolished the democratic system of tribe- 



Chap. XXVIII.] REFORMS OF SULLA. 235 

voting,* and restored the old arrangement of the centuries on 

the Servian basis. 

The senate, reduced in numbers by the late proscription, was 

recruited by the addition of 300 members from the equestrian 

order ; and a permanent change was made in its . ^, , 

,.' , . ^„, . . , *= „ , , in the senate, 

constitution, ihe principle was now nxed by 

which the quaestorship was made the only stepping-stone to 

senatorial dignity ; henceforth the personal choice by the censor 

ceases, and the senate is recruited in a purely automatic manner. 

The increase of the quaestors to twenty permanently doubled 

the number of its members, which from this time was about 600. 

A thorough reform was also undertaken in the administration 
of justice. In place of the criminal jurisdiction of the comitia, 
or of the occasional commissioners which it . . 
appointed, Sulla established permanent courts ^. ^ 
(quaestiones perpetuae), each of which was to 
try a definite crime. A precedent for this change had been 
given by the Lex Calpurnia of 149 B.C., by which a standing 
commission was appointed for all trials repetundarum. Since 
that date the court for the trial of extortion had been frequently 
reconstituted, and another for the trial of bribery (ambitus) had 
been added. The number of quaestiones was greatly increased 
by Sulla ; and treason, murder, breach of the peace, peculation, 
and forgery were made the subjects of the new criminal com- 
missions. 

These new courts, consisting each of a definite number of 
jurors (Judices), were presided over by those praetors who were 
not engaged in civil jurisdiction ; as the praetors were now 
raised to eight, six were available as criminal judges ; but the 
courts exceeded this number, and consequently they were some- 
times presided over by a foreman chosen from the jury {judex 
quaestionis). Their establishment by Sulla was made the occa- 
sion of a Lex Judiciaria enacting that \hQ judices should be taken 
exclusively from the senators and not from the equites, the latter 
of whom had possessed this privilege, with one brief interrup- 
tion, from the time of C. Gracchus, The dependence of the 
senate on the equestrian order was thus removed, and the 
aristocracy was armed with a weapon by which it could defend 
its privileges and abuses and hold its enemies in check. 

* p. 146. 



236 



HISTOKV OF ROME. 



[Chap. XXVIII. 



Such are the outlines of one of the most extraordinarj' attempts 
at reactionary legislation that history records. The new consti- 
tution contained within itself the germs of dissolu- 
General view ^j^jj . f^^ j^ invited attack from every side. The 
oftheSuUan ! , i i r i . j n- 

constitution senate s power had tormerly rested on public 

opinion, and for this coercive laws are a poor 
substitute. The shackles imposed on the tribunate made the 
restoration of the powers of this magistracy a popular party cry. 
The knights, whose support might have bolstered up the consti- 
tution, were hopelessly alienated by the loss of the judicia. 
The senate, still bent on plundering the provinces, showed no 
tendency to reform ; and the censorship, which had kept the 
order comparatively pure, was practically abolished. We are 
not surprised, therefore, to find that in a few years Sulla's 
bulwarks were swept away. Those portions of his constitution 
alone were permanent that were not marked by a partisan 
spirit. His reconstruction of the senate, his regulation of pro- 
vincial commands, and his criminal courts remained proofs of 
his genius for organization. 




Coin of Sulla. 




Cn. Pompeius Magnus. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



KKOM THE DEATH OF SULLA TO THE CONSULSHIP OF POMPBY 
AND CRASSUS. 78-70 B.C. 

Sulla was scarcely dead before an attempt was made to over- 
throw the aristocratical constitution which he had established. 
The Consul M. Lepidus had already, as we have 
seen, endeavoured to prevent the burial of Sulla i,g|,jjug 
in the Campus Martins. He now proposed to 
repeal the dictator's laws ; but the other consul, Q. Catulus, 
remained firm to the aristocracy, and offered the most strenuous 
opposition to the measures of his colleague. Faesulae in Etruria 
was soon the scene of a revolt of the proletariate which had 
been dispossessed by Sulla. "When the consuls were ordered to 



238 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXIX. 

suppress it, Lepidus seized the opportunity of putting himself at 
the head of the insurgents in the revolted district and march- 
ing straight upon Rome. The senate assembled an army, which 
they placed under the command of Q. Catulus, with Pompey as 
his lieutenant. A battle was fought near the Mulvian bridge, in 
which Lepidus was defeated, and, finding it impossible to main- 
tain his footing in Italy, he sailed with the remainder of his 
forces to Sardinia, where he died soon afterwards. 

Meantime the remains of tlie Marian party had found refuge 
in Spain. Q. Sertorius, one of the ablest of their generals, had 
received the government of this country in the 
Sertorius in y^^^, g2 b.c. He soon acquired an extraordinary 
^ ■ ascendency over the minds of the natives, and 

flattered them with the hope of establishing an independent state 
which might bid defiance to Rome. His influence was enhanced 
by the superstition of the people. He was accompanied on all 
occasions by a tame fawn, which they believed to be a familiar 
spirit. So attached did they become to his person, that he 
found no difficulty in collecting a formidable army, which for 
some years successfully opposed all the power of Rome. Sulla's 
generals had forced him for a time to quit Spain for Africa ; but 
he soon returned, consolidated his power afresh, and was rein- 
forced in 78 B.C. by a considerable body of troops which Perperna 
carried with him into Spain after the defeat of Lepidus. In 
79 B.C. Metellus, who had been consul the previous year with 
Sulla, was sent against him ; but, though an able general, he was 
baffled by the unexpected nature of a war, which was no longer 
a revolt, but a struggle for national independence ; and the senate 
sent Pompey to aid in the reduction of the power, half Roman, 
half Spanish, of which Sertorius was the head. Pompey, though 
only thirty years of age, was already regarded as the ablest 
general of the Republic; and as he played such a prominent 
part in her later history, we may here pause to give a brief 
account of his early career. 

Pompey was born in 106 B.C., and was, as we have already seen, 
the son of Cn. Pompeius Strabo, who fought against the Italians 
in his consulsliip, 89 B.C. The young Pompey 
j?ompey. served under his father in this war, when he was 

only seventeen years of age, and continued with him till his 
death two years afterwards. Subsequently he was obliged to 



Chap. XXIX.] POMPEY, 239 

fight in the ranks of the democrats, when Cinna forced his way 
into Rome (87 B.C.) ; but Pompey was no democrat at heart. 
As soon as Sulla had finished the Mithridatic War, and was on 
his way to Italy, instead of waiting, like the other leaders of the 
aristocracy, for the arrival of their chief, he resolved to share 
with him the glory of crushing the Marian party. Accordingly 
he proceeded to levy troops in Picenum without holding any 
public office ; and such was his personal influence that he was 
able to raise an army of three legions. Before joining Sulla he 
gained a brilliant victory over the Marian generals, and was 
received by Sulla with the greatest distinction. Upon the con- 
clusion of the war in Italy, Pompey was sent first into Sicily, and 
afterwards into Africa, where the Marian party still held out. 
His success was rapid and decisive. In a few months he re- 
duced the whole of Numidia, and, unhke other Roman governors, 
abstained from plundering the province. His military achieve- 
ments and his incorruptibility procured him the greatest renown, 
and he returned to Rome covered with glory (80 B.C.). Numbers 
flocked out of the city to meet him ; and the dictator himself, 
who formed one of the crowd, greeted him with the surname of 
Magnus or the Great, which he bore ever afterwards. Sulla 
at first refused to let him triumph, for he had held no magistracy : 
but as Pompey insisted upon the. honour, Sulla gave way, and 
the young general entered Rome in triumph as a simple eques, 
and before he had completed his twenty-fifth year. 

Pompey again exhibited his power, in promoting, in 79 B.C., 
the election of M. Aemilius Lepidus to the consulship, in opposi- 
tion to the wishes of Sulla. The latter had now retired from 
public affairs, and contented himself with warning Pompey, as 
he met him returning from the comitia in triumph, "Young man, 
it is time for you not to slumber, for you have strengthened your 
rival against yourself." Lepidus seems to have reckoned upon . 
the support of Pompey ; but in this he was disappointed, for 
Pompey remained faithful to the aristocracy, and, after the 
struggle with Lepidus, crushed the remains of the revolutionary 
party in Cisalpine Gaul. The senate, who now began to dread 
Pompey, ordered him to disband his army ; but he found various 
excuses for evading this injunction, as he was anxious to obtain 
the command of the war against Sertorius in Spain, They 
hesitated, however, to give him this opportunity for gaining fresh 



240 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap, XXIX 

distinction and additional power ; and it was only in consequence 
of the continuous success of Sertorius tliat they at length un- 
willingly determined to send Pompey to Spain, with the title of 
proconsul, and with powers equal to Metellus. 

Pompey arrived in Spain in 76 B.C. He soon found that he 
had a more formidable enemy to deal with than he had yet 
encountered. He suffered several defeats, and. 
Pompey com- j-jiough he gained some advantages, yet sucli 
Sertorius "were his losses that at the end of two years he 

was obliged to send to Rome for reinforcements. 
The war continued three years longer ; but Sertorius, who had 
lost some of his influence over the Spanish tribes, and who had 
become an object of jealousy to M. Perperna and his principal 
Roman officers, was unable to carry on operations with the same 
vigour as during the two preceding years. Pompey accordingly 
gained some advantages over him, but the war was still far from 
a close ; and the genius of Sertorius would probably have soon 
given a very different aspect to affairs, had he not been assassi- 
nated by Perperna in 72 b.c. 

Perperna had flattered himself that he should succeed to the 
power of Sertorius ; but he soon found that he had murdered 

Murder of ^^^® '^^^y ™^'^ ^^^^ "^^^ ^^^^ *° ^^^''^ ^"™ ^^"^ ™^"' 
Sertorius. In his first battle with Pompey he was completely 

Conquest of defeated, his principal officers slain, and himself 
Spain. taken prisoner. Anxious to save his life, he 

offered to deliver up to Pompey the papers of Sertorius, con- 
taining letters from many of the leading men at Rome. But 
Pompey refused to see him, and commanded the letters to be 
burnt. The war was now virtually at an end, and the remainder 
of the year was employed in subduing the towns which still held 
out. Metellus had taken no part in the final struggle with 
Perperna ; and Pompey thus obtained the credit of bringing the 
war to a conclusion. The people longed for his return, that he 
might deliver Italy from Spartacus and his horde of gladiators, 
who had defeated the consuls, and were in possession of a great 
part of the peninsula. 

A righteous retribution had overtaken the Romans for their 

love of the cruel sports of the amphitheatre. 

Spartacus. rJ^^^ gladiators were generally prisoners taken in 

war and sold to persons who trained them in schools for the 



Chap. XXIX.] THE STRUGGLE WlTIt SPARTACUS. Ul 

Roman games. There was such a school at Capua, and among 
the gladiators was a Thracian of the name of Spartacus, origin- 
ally a chief of banditti, who had been taken prisoner by the 
Romans, and was now destined to be butchered for their amuse- 
ment. Having prevailed upon about seventy of his comrades, 
he burst out of the school with them, succeeded in obtaining 
arms, and took refuge on Vesuvius, at that time an extinct 
volcano (73 B.C.). Here he was soon joined by large numbers 
of slaves, who flocked to him from all quarters. He was now 
at the head of a formidable army. The desolation of the social 
and civil wars had depopulated Italy, while the employment 
of slave-labour furnished Spartacus with an endless supply of 
soldiers. In addition to this, the war with Sertorius was not 
yet finished, and that with Mithridates, of which we shall speak 
presently, had already commenced. For upwards of two years 
Spartacus was master of Italy, which he laid waste from the 
foot of the Alps to the southernmost corner of the peninsula. 
In 72 B.C. he found himself at the head of 100,000 men, and 
defeated both consuls. 

As the consuls of the following year had no military reputa- 
tion, the conduct of the war was entrusted to the praetor, 
M. Licinius Crassus, who had greatly distinguished „ 
himself in the wars of Sulla. He had been re- 
warded by the dictator with donations of confiscated property, 
and had accumulated an immense fortune. Six legions were 
now given him in addition to the remains of the consular armies 
already in the field. The Roman troops were disheartened 
and disorganized by defeat, but Crassus restored discipline by 
decimating the soldiers. Spartacus was driven to the extreme 
point of Bruttium ; his design was to pass over to Sicily, where 
he would have been welcomed by thousands of followers. But he 
failed in his attempt to cross the straits, and Crassus drew strong 
lines of circumvallation across Bruttium to cut off his retreat. 
Spartacus broke through the lines and again entered Lucania. 

The Roman general hastened in pursuit, and fell in with the 
main body of the fugitives. A desperate battle ensued, in which 
Spartacus perished, with the greater part of his 
followers. About 6000 were taken prisoners, gnorfacas 
whom Crassus impaled on each side of the 
Appian road between Rome and Capua. A body of 5000 



242 HISTORY OP ROME. [Chap. XXIX. 

made their way northwards, whom Pompey met as he was 
returning from Spain, and cut to pieces, Crassus had in reality 
brought the war to an end; but Pompey took the credit to 
himself, and wrote to the senate, saying, " Crassus, indeed, has 
defeated the enemy, but I have extirpated them by the roots." 

Pompey and Crassus now approached the city at the head of 
their armies, and each laid claim to the consulship. Neither of 

them was qualified by the laws of Sulla. Pompej'' 
Coalition CI ^^^g ^^j^, j^ j^jg thirty-fifth year, and had not even 
Crassus. ^^^^ ^^^ office of quaestor. Crassus was still 

praetor, and two years ought to elapse before he 
could become consul. A compromise was come to between the 
generals, and, in order to win support from the democratic party 
within the city, Pompey declared himself the advocate of the 
popular rights, and promised to restore the tribunician power. 
The senate dared not offer opposition, and accordingly they were 
elected consuls for the following year. Pompey entered the 
city in triumph on the 31st of December, 71 B.C., and Crassus 
enjoyed the honour of an ovation. 

The consulship of Pompey and Crassus (70 b.c.) was memor- 
able for the downfall of the most important portions of Sulla's 

constitutional reforms. The law making the tribu- 
Downfall of ^^^^ ^^ ^^^. ^q higher offices had already been 
constitution. I'^pealed by a Lex Aurelia of 75 B.C. ; but 

Pompey now removed the disabilities on its 
right of initiative and on the intercession. He also struck 
another blow at the aristocrac3^ By one of Sulla's laws the 
judices during the last ten years had been chosen from the 
senate. The corruption and venality of the latter in the ad- 
ministration of justice had exciteii the general indignation which 
finds expression in Cicero's Verrines, and some change was 
clamorously demanded by the people. 

Accordingly, the Praetor L. Aurelius Cotta, with the approba- 
tion of Pompey, proposed a law by which the judices were to 

be taken in future from the senate, equites, arid 

Tribuni Aerarii, the latter probably representing 
the order which came next to the equites in the census. This 
law was likewise carried ; but, though it rendered the courts less 
of a political weapon, it did not improve the purity of the adminis- 
tratioa of justice, since corruption was not confined to the 



Chap. XXIX.] COALITION OF POMPEY AND CRASSUS. 243 

senators, but pervaded all classes of the community alike. 
Pompey had thus broken with the aristocracy, and had become 
the great popular hero. In carrying both these measures he 
was strongly supported by Caesar, who, though he was rapidly 
rising in popular favour, could as yet only hope to weaken the 
power of the aristocracy through Pompey's means. The demo- 
cratic programme was again allied with the military power, 
and both were paving the way for absolutism. 




Coin ot Mithridates. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THIRD OR GREAT MITHRIDATIC WAR. 74-61 B.C. 

When Sulla returned to Italy after the first Mithridatic War, 
he left L. Murena, with two legions, to hold the command in 
Asia. Murena, who was eager for some oppor- 
SecondMithn- ^^j^^j^^ ^^ earning the honour of a triumph, pre- 
tending that Mithridates had not yet evacuated 
the whole of Cappadocia, not only marched into that country, 
but even crossed the Halys, and laid waste the plains of Pontus 
itself (83 B.C.). To this flagrant breach of the treaty so lately 
concluded the Roman general was in great measure instigated by 
Archelaus, who, finding himself regarded with suspicion by Mithri- 
dates, had consulted his safety by flight, and was received with 
the utmost honour by the Romans. 

Mithridates, who was wholly unprepared to renew the contest 

with Rome, offered no opposition to the progress of Murena ; 

but finding that general disregard his remon- 

Defeat of strances, he sent to Rome to complain of his 

IH nffi'nfl. 

aggression. When, in the following spring 
(82 B.C.), he saw Mtu'ena preparing to renew his hostile in- 
cursions, he at once determined to oppose him by force, and 
assembled a large army, with which he met the Roman general 
on the banks of the Halys. The action that ensued terminated 
in the complete victory of the king ; and Murena with difficulty 
effected his retreat into Phrygia, leaving Cappadocia at the 
mercy of Mithridates, who quickly overran the whole province. 
Shortly afterwards A. Gabmius arrived in Asia, bringing 



Chap. XXX.] THIRD MITHRIDATIG WAR. 245 

peremptorj'^ orders from Sulla to Miirena to desist from hostili- 
ties ; whereupon Mithridates once more con- 
sented to evacuate Cappadocia, and the peace ^, Deace 
with Rome was renewed. 

Notwithstanding the interposition of Sulla, Mithridates was 
well aware that the peace between him and Rome was in fact 
only a suspension of hostilities; and that the 

haiiehty Republic would neA^er suffer the massacre J^?5^ ^^^ 

f 1 V ■ ^ ■ ^ • ■ i. A of Mithri- 

01 her citizens in Asia to remam unpunished, ^^tes. 

Hence all his efforts were directed towards the 
formation of an army capable of contending, not only in numbers 
but in discipline, with the legions of Rome. With this view he 
armed his barbarian troops after the Roman fashion, and en- 
deavoured to train them in that discipline the effect of which 
he had so strongly felt in the preceding contest. In these 
attempts he was, doubtless, assisted by the refugees of the Marian 
party, who had accompanied Fimbria into Asia, and, on the 
defeat of that general by Siilla, had taken refuge with the king 
of Pontus. At their instigation also Mithridates sent an embassy 
to Sertorius, who was still maintaining his gi-ound in Spain, and 
concluded an alliance with him against their common enemies. 

But it was the death of Nicomedes III., king of Bithynia, in 
75 B.C., that brought matters to a crisis, and became the imme- 
diate occasion of the war which both parties had 
long felt to be inevitable. That monarch left his bithynia be- 
dorainions by will to the Roman people ; and B,oiiie. 
Bithynia was accordingly declared a Roman pro- 
vince. But Mithridates asserted that the late king had left a 
legitimate son by his wife Nysa, whose pretensions he imme- 
diately prepared to support by arms. 

The forces with which Mithridates was now prepared to take 
the field were such as might inspire him with no unreasonable 
confidence of victory. He had assembled an 
army of 120,000 foot-soldiers, armed and dis- ^Uhridafes 
ciplined in the Roman manner, and 16,000 horse, 
besides a hundred scythed chariots. His fleet also was so far 
superior to any that the Romans could oppose to him, as to give 
him the almost undisputed command of the sea. These pre- 
parations, however, appear to have delayed him so long that 
before he was able to take the field the season was far advanced, 



246 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXX. 

and both the Koman consuls, L. Licinius Lucullus and M. 
Aurelius Cotta, had arrived in Asia. Neither of them, however, 
was able to oppose his first irruption ; he traversed almost the 
whole of Bithynia without encountering any resistance ; and 
when at length Cotta ventured to give him battle under the 
walls of Calchedon, his army and fleet were totally defeated. 
Mithridates now proceeded to lay siege to Cyzicus both by sea 
and land. But Lucullus, who had advanced from Phrygia to 
the relief of Cotta, and followed Mithridates to Cyzicus, took 
possession of an advantageous position near the camp of the 
king, where he almost entirely cut him off from receiving 
supplies by land, while the storms of the winter prevented him 
from depending on those by sea. Hence it was not long before 
famine began to make itself felt in the camp of Mithridates ; and 
all his assaults upon the city having been foiled by the courage 
and resolution of the besieged, he was at length compelled (early 
in the year 73 B.C.) to abandon the enterprise and raise the siege. 
In his retreat he was repeatedly attacked by the Roman general, 
and suffered very heavy loss at the passage of the Aesepus and 

Granicus. By the close of the year the great 
Lucullus army with which he had commenced the war had 

been almost annihilated ; and he was not only 
compelled to retire into his own dominions, but was without the 
means of opposing the advance of Lucullus into the heart of 
Pontus itself. But he now again set to work with indefatigable 
activity to raise a fresh army ; and while he left the whole of 
the sea-coast of Pontus open to the invaders, he established 
himself in the interior at Cabira. Here he was again defeated by 
Lucullus ; and despairing of opposing the further progress of the 
Romans, he fled into Armenia to claim the protection and assist- 
ance of his son-in-law Tigranes. 

Tigranes was at this moment the most powerful monarch of 
Asia, but he appears to have been unwilling to engage openly in 

war with Rome ; and on this account, while he re- 
^.^^ nes ceived the fugitive monarch in a friendly manner, 

he refused to admit him to his presence, and 
showed no disposition to attempt his restoration. But the arro- 
gance of the Romans brought about a change in his policj'^ ; and 
Tigranes, offended at the haughty conduct of Appius Claudius, 
whom Lucullus had sent to demand the surrender bf Mithridates, 



Chap. XXX.] THIRD MITHRIDATIC WAR. 247 

not only refused this request, but determined at once to prepare 
for war. 

While LucuUus was waiting for the return of Claudius, he 
devoted his attention to the settlement of the affairs of Asia, 
which was suffering severely from the oppressions of the farmers 
of the public taxes. By various judicious regulations he put a 
stop to their exactions, and earned the gratitude of the Asiatic 
cities ; but at the same time he brought upon himself the enmity 
of the equites, who were the farmers of the revenue. They were 
loud against him in their complaint's at Eome, and by their con- 
tinued clamours undoubtedly prepared the way for his ultimate 
recall. 

Meanwhile community of interests between Mithridates and 
Tigranes had led to a complete reconciliation between them ; and 
the Pontic king, who had spent a year and eight 
months in the dominions of his son-in-law without ^."^^'' "'^ 
being admitted to a personal interview, was now 
made to participate in all the councils of Tigranes, and com- 
missioned to raise an army to unite in the war. But it was in 
vain that in the ensuing campaign (69 B.C.) he urged upon his 
son-in-law the lessons of his own experience, and advised him to 
shun a regular action with Lucullus : Tigranes, confident in the 
multitude of his forces, gave battle at Tigranocerta, and was 
defeated, before Mithridates had been able to join him. But 
this disaster, so precisely in accordance with the warnings of 
Mithridates, served to raise the latter so high in the estimation of 
Tigranes, that from this time forward the whole conduct of the 
war was entrusted to the direction of the king of Pontus. 

In the following summer (68 b c.) Lucullus crossed the Taurus, 

penetrated into the heart of Armenia, and again defeated the 

allied monarchs near the city of Artaxata. But 

the early severity of the season, and the discontent Defeat of 

of his own troops, checked the further advance „„^;^^ 
' ' armies, 

of the Roman general, who turned aside into 

Mesopotamia. Here Mithridates allowed him to lay siege to the 

fortress of Nisibis, which was supposed to be impregnable, while 

he himself took advantage of his absence to invade Pontus, at 

the head of a large army, and endeavour to regain possession of 

his former dominions. The defence of Pontus was confided to 

Fabius, one of the lieutenants of Lucullus, but the oppression of 



248 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXX. 

the Eomans had excited a general spirit of disaffection, and the 
people crowded around the standard of Mithridates. Fabius 
was totally defeated, and compelled to shut himself up in the 
fortress of Cabira. In the following spring (67 b.c.) Triarius, 

other of the Eoman generals, was also defeated with immense 
loss at Zela. The blow was one of the severest which the 
Roman arms had sustained for a long period : 7000 of their 
troops fell, among whom were an unprecedented number of 
officers, and their camp itself was taken. 

The advance of Lucullus himself from Mesopotamia prevented 

Mithridates from following up his advantage, and he withdrew 

into Lesser Armenia, where he took up a strong 

pisaifection position to await the approach of Tigranes. But 

in Xiiicullus 

army. ^^^ further proceedings of Lucullus were paralyzed 

by the mutinous and disaffected spirit of his own 

soldiers. Their discontents were fostered by P. Clodiiis, whose 

turbulent and restless spirit already showed itself in its full 

force, and were encouraged by reports from Rome, where the 

demagogues who were favoura:ile to Pompey, or had been 

gained over by the equestrian party, were loud in their clamours 

against Lucullus. They accused him of protracting the war for 

his own personal objects, either of ambition or avarice; and the 

soldiery, whose appetite for plunder he had often checked, 

readily joined in the outcry. Accordingly, on the arrival of 

Tigranes, the two monarchs found themselves able to overi'un 

almost the whole of Pontus and Cappadocia without opposition. 

Such was the state of affairs when ten legates arrived in Asia 

to reduce Pontus to the form of a Roman province; and they 

had in consequence to report to the senate that 

inted ^^^ country supposed to be conquered was again 

in the hands of the enemy. The adversaries of 

Lucullus naturally availed themselves of so favourable an 

occasion, and a decree was passed transferring to M'. Acilius 

Glabrio, one of the consuls for the year (67 b.c), the province of 

Bithynia, and the command against Mithridates. 

But Glabrio was wholly incompetent for the task assigned to 
him. On arriving in Bithynia he made no attempt to assume the 
command, but remained within the confines of his province, 
while he still further embarrassed the position of Lucullus by 
issuing proclamations to his soldiers, announcing to them that 



Chap. XXX.] WAR WITH THE PIRATES. 249 

their general was superseded, and releasing them from their 
obedience. Before the close of the year (67 b.c.) Luculhis had 
the mortification of seeing Mithridates established 
once more in the possession of his hereditary do- fruitless 

Ti . -i i.-ii 11- i 1- resBltoftne 

mmions. But it was still more galhng to his ^^^ 

feelings when, in the spring of the following year 
(66 B.C.), he was called upon to resign the command to 
Pompey, who had just brought to a successful termination the 
war against the pirates. 

The MediteiTanean had long been swarming with robbers. 
From the earliest times piracy has more or less prevailed in this 
sea, which, lying between three continents, and 
abounding in numerous creeks and isJands, pre- 
sents the greatest temptations and the greatest facilities for 
piratical pursuits. In consequence of the social and civil wars, 
and the absence of any united fleet to preserve order upon the 
sea, the evil had reached an alarming height, and the governors 
of the separate provinces, with the few sliips at their command, 
found themselves quite unable to cope with this predatory 
organization. The pirates possessed fleets in all parts of the 
Mediterranean, were in the habit of plundering the most wealthy 
cities on the coasts, and had at length carried their audacity so 
far as to make descents upon the Appian road, and carry off 
Eoman magistrates, with their lictors. All communication 
between Rome and the provinces was cut oft', or rendered 
extremely dangerous; the fleets of corn-vessels, upon which 
Eome to a great extent depended for its subsistence, could not 
reach the city, and provisions rose to famine prices. 

The ruin of trade and the scarcity of food united the equites 
and the masses against the government. At the beginning of 
67 B.C. the tribune A. Gabinius, brought forward ^ p >,• • 
a bill which was intended to give a delegate of 
the people almost absolute authority over the greater part of the 
Roman world. It proposed that a man of consular rank should 
be chosen, who should possess command over the whole of the 
Mediterranean with an imperium equal to that of other pro- 
vincial governors whose provinces he touched; he was to be 
given a fleet of 200 ships, with 15 senatorial legates, as many 
soldiers and sailors as he thought necessary, and 6000 Attic 
talents. The bill did not name Pompey, but it was clear who 



250 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXX. 

was meant. The aristocracy were in the utmost alarm, and in 
the senate Caesar was almost the only person who came forward 
in its support. Party spirit ran to such a height that the most 
serious riots ensued. Even Pompey himself was threatened by 
one of the consuls, "If you emulate Eomulus, you will not 
escape the end of Romulus." Q. Catulus and Q. Hortensius 
spoke against the bill with great eloquence, but to no effect. 
On the day that it became law the price of provisions at Rome 
immediately fell — a fact which showed the immense confidence 
which all parties placed in Pompey 's military capacity. 

The admiral's plans were formed with great skill, and were 
crowned with complete success. He stationed his lieutenants 

with different squadrons in various parts of the 
Pompey sub- Mediterranean to prevent the pirates from uniting, 
Dirates. ^^^ *° '^""*' them out of various bays and creeks 

in which they concealed themselves ; while, at the 
same time, he swept the middle of the sea with the main body 
of his fleet, and chased them eastwards. In forty days he drove 
the pirates out of the western seas, and restored communication 
between Spain, Africa, and Italy. After then remaining a short 
time in Italy, he sailed from Brundusium ; cleared the seas as he 
went along; and forced the pirates to the Cilician coast. Here 
the decisive action was fought; the pirates were defeated; and 
more than 20,000 prisoners fell into his hands. Those on whom 
most reUance could be placed were distributed among the small 
and depopulated cities of Cilicia, and a large number were settled 
at Soli, which was henceforward called Pompeiopolis. The 
second part of this campaign occupied only forty-nine days, and 
the whole war was brought to a conclusion in the course of three 
months. Pompey remained in Cilicia during the remainder of 
this year and the beginning of the one following. 

Meanwhile the tribune C. Manilius brought forward a bill 
(66 B.C.) giving to Pompey the command of the war against 

Mithridates, with a command unlimited by time 
Lex am la. ^^ place over the army and the fleet in the East, 
and with rights equal to those of the ordinary provincial gover- 
nors (imperium infirdtum aequum). As his proconsular power 
already extended over all the coasts and islands of the Medi- 
terranean in virtue of the Gabinian law, this new measure 
virtually placed almost the whole of the transmarine provinces 



Chap. XXX.] THIRD MITHRIDATIC WAR. 251 

in his hands. But there was no power, however excessive, 
which the enthusiasm of the people and the anger of the equites 
were not ready to entrust to the new hero; and the bill was 
accordingl}' passed, notwithstanding the opposition of Hortensius, 
Catulus, and the aristocratical party. Cicero, the spokesman of 
the equestrian order, advocated the measure in an oration which 
has come down to us {Pro Lege Manilia), and Caesar likewise 
supported it with his growing popularity and influence. 

On receiving intelligence of this new appointment, Pompey 
immediately crossed the Taurus, and took the command of the 
army from Lucullus. The power of Mithri dates 
had been broken by the previous victories of Qfvt^nev^ 
Lucullus, and the successes which the king had 
gained lately were only occasional and were mainly due to the 
disorganization of the Roman army. In the plan of the campaign 
Pompey displayed great military skill. One of his first measures 
was to secure the alliance of the Parthian king, which not only 
deprived Mithridates of all hopes of succour from that quarter, 
but likewise cut him off from all assistance from the Armenian 
king Tigranes, who was now obliged to look to the safety of his 
own dominions. Pompey next stationed his fleet in different 
squadrons along the coasts of Asia Minor, in order to deprive 
Mithridates of all communication from the sea, and he then 
proceeded in person at the head of his land forces against the 
king. Thus thrown back upon his own resources, Mithridates 
sued for peace, but, as Pompey would hear of nothing but 
unqualified submission, the negotiation was broken off. The 
king was still at the head of 30,000 foot and 3000 horse, but he 
knew too well the strength of a Roman army to venture an 
engagement with these forces, and accordingly withdrew gradu- 
ally to the frontiers of Armenia. 

For a long time he succeeded in avoiding a battle, but he was, 
at length, surprised by Pompey in TiCsser Armenia as he was 
marching through a narrow pass. The battle was 
soon decided ; the king lost the greater number of Mithridates 
his troops, and escaped with only a few horsemen 
to the fortress of Synorium, on the borders of the Greater 
Armenia, Here he again collected a considerable force ; but as 
Tigranes refused to admit him into his dominions, because he 
suspected him of fomenting the intrigues of his son against him, 



252 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXX. 

Mithridates had no alternative but to take refuge in his own 
distant dominions in the Cimmerian Bosporus. To reach thera 
he had to march through Colchis, and to fight his way through 
the wild and barbarous tribes that occupied the country between 
the Caucasus and the Euxine. He succeeded, however, in this 
arduous enterprise, and reached the Bosporus in safety in the 
course of the next year (65 B.C.). Pompey abandoned at 
present all thoughts of following the fugitive king, and resolved 
at once to attack Tigranes, who was now the more formidable of 
the two monarchs. 

On entering Armenia Pompey met with no opposition. He 
was joined by the young Tigranes, who had revolted against his 
father, and all the cities submitted to them on 
Conquest of ^j^^jj. jjppj-oach. When the Romans drew near to 
Artaxata, the king, deserted by his army and his 
court, went out to meet Pompey, and threw himself before him 
as a suppliant. Pompey received him with kindness, acknow- 
ledged him as king of Armenia, and demanded only the payment 
of 6000 talents. His foreign possessions, however, in Syria, 
Phoenicia, Cilicia, and Cappadocia, which had been conquered by 
Lucullus, were to belong to the Romans. To his son Tigranes, 
S.iphene and Gordyene were given as an independent kingdom ; 
but as the young prince was discontented with this arrangement, 
and even ventured to utter threats, Porapej' had him arrested, 
and kept him in chains to grace his triumph. 

After thus settling the affairs of Armenia, Pompey proceeded 
northwards in pursuit of Mithridates. Conflicts ensued with the 
Iberians and Albanians, and, after the defeat of the 
Alh^^^^^ ^" latter, all the tribes south of the Caucasus were 
formally admitted into alliance with Rome(65 B.C.). 
But Pompey did not continue his projected march to the Crimea 
further than the Phasis. Here he obtained more certain in- 
formation of the movements of Mithridates, and learning the 
wild and inaccessible nature of the country through which he 
would have to march in order to reach the king, he retiaced 
his steps, and led his troops into winter-quarters at Amisus, on 
the Euxine. He now reduced Pontus to the form of a Roman 
province. 

In 64 B.C. Pompey marched into Syria, where he deposed 
Antiochus Asiaticus, and made the country a Roman province. 



Chap. XXX.] CLOSE OF THE MITHRIDATIC WARS. 253 

He likewise compelled the neighbouring princes, who had es- 
tablished independent kingdoms on the ruins of the Syrian 
empire, to submit to the Roman dominion. The . 
whole of this year was occupied with the settle- 
ment of Syria and the adjacent provinces. 

Next year (63 B.C.), Pompey advanced further south, in order 
to establish the Roman supremacy in Phoenicia, Coele-Syria, and 

Palestine. The latter country was at this time dis- _ , ^. 

jfl.lftST.1nfi 

tracted by a civil war between the priest-kings 
Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. Pompey espoused the side of 
Hyrcanus i and Aristobulus surrendered himself to Pompey, 
when the latter had advanced near to Jerusalem. But the 
Jews refused to follow the example of their king ; and it was 
not till after a siege of three months that the city was taken. 
Pompey entered the holy of holies, the first time that any 
human being, excei^t the high priest, had penetrated into this 
sacred spot. He reinstated Hyrcanus in the high priesthood, 
but compelled him to pay a war indemnity to Rome : Aristobulus 
accompanied him as a prisoner. It was during this war in 
Palestine that Pompey received intelligence of the death of 
Mithridates. 

During the last two years Mithridates had been making the 
most extensive preparations for the renewal of the contest. He 
had conceived the daring project of marching 
round the north and west coasts of the Euxine, j, thr'd t 
and emulating Hannibal by penetrating into Italy, 
and was busily engaged in assembling an enormous fleet and 
army. But his proceedings were delayed by a long and painful 
illness, which incapacitated him for any personal exertion. At 
length, however, his preparations were completed, and he found 
himself at the head of an army of 36,000 men and a considerable 
fleet. But during his illness disaffection had made rapid progress 
among his followers. The full extent of his schemes was pro- 
bably communicated to few ; but enough had transpired to alarm 
the multitude ; and a formidable conspiracy was organized by 
Pharnaces, the monarch's favourite son. 

He was quickly joined both by the whole army and the 
citizens of Panticapaeum, who unanimously pro- . 
claimed him king; and Mithridates saw that no 
choice remained to him but death or captivity. Hereupon he took 



254 



HISTORr OF ROME. 



[Chap. XXX. 



poison, which he constantly carried with him ; but his constitu- 
tion had been so long inured to antidotes, that it did not pro- 
duce the desired effect, and he was compelled to call in the 
assistance of one of his Gallic mercenaries to despatch him 
with his sword. 

Pompey now devoted his attention to the settlement of affairs 
in Asia. Ilis organization of the East marks the close of the 
third period of the extension of the Roman empire. 
The Protectorate system, so long clung to in the 
East, had now been given up, and the acquisition 
of the provinces of Pontus, Bithynia, and Syria 
made direct imperial rule extend to the Black Sea and the 
Euphrates. But a chain of client-states was still kept along 
the frontier. Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates, was confirmed 
in the possession of the kingdom of Bosporus ; Deiotarus, 
tetrarch of Galatia, was rewarded with an extension of territory ; 
and Ariobarzanes, king of Cappadocia, was restored to his king- 
dom. Great efforts were made to cultivate in the new provinces 
the Greek civic organization ; and thirty-nine new towns are 
said to have sprung into life at Pompey's bidding. 



Pompey's 
organization 
of the East. 




Coin of Tigranes, 




CHAPTEE XXXT. 



IKTERSTAL HISTORY, FROM THE COKSXJLSHIP OF POMPEY AND 
CRASSUS TO THE RETURN OF POMPEY FROM THE EAST. — THE 
COXSPIRACY OF CATILINE. 69-61 B.C. 

During the five years of Pompey's absence in the East 
(67-62 B.C.) he had been the uncertain element in the pohtics 
of the Roman world ; and both parties watched 



State of 
parties. 



anxiously to see to what purpose he would use his 
vast military power. The senate had been beaten 
by the Gabinian and Manilian laws, and felt their position in- 
secure. The popular party was still crushed and humiliated, 
and for their recent success had been forced to lean on P. 
Crassus and the equites. Meanwhile a new leader of the popular 
party had been rapidly rising into notice, who was destined not 



256 HiSTORy OP ROME. [Cnx-p. XXXT. 

only to crush the aristocracy, but to overthrow the RepubHc and 
become the undisputed master of the Roman world. 

C. Julius Caesae, who was descended from an old patrician 
family, was six years younger than Pompey, having been born 
in 100 B.C. He was connected with the popular 
party by the marriage of his aunt Julia with the 
great Marius, and he himself married, at an early age, Cornelia, 
the daughter of Cinna, the most distinguished of the Marian 
leaders. Sulla commanded him to divorce his wife, and on his 
refusal his life was for a time in danger. The vestal virgins and 
his friends with difficulty obtained his pardon from the dictator, 
who observed, when they pleaded his youth and insignificance, 
" that that boy would some day or another be the ruin of the 
aristocracy, for that there were many Mariuses in him." 

This was the first proof which Caesar gave of the resolution 
and decision of character which distinguished him throughout 
life. His first campaign was fought under M. Minucius Thermus, 
in Asia, where he was rewarded, at the siege of Mitylene, with 
a civic crown for saving the life of a fellow-soldier. His political 
career commenced with the accusation of Cn. Dolabella for ex- 
tortion in his province of Macedonia (77 B.C.)- Dolabella was 
acquitted by the senatorial judges ; but Caesar gained great 
reputation by this prosecution, and showed that he possessed 
powers of oratory which bade fair to place him among the fore- 
most speakers at Rome. To render himself still more perfect, he 
sought the school of rhetoric at Rhodes, then frequented by 
Roman nobles ; but on his voyage thither he was captured by 
pirates, with whom the seas of the Mediterranean then swarmed. 
They detained him until he could obtain fifty talents from the 
neighbouring cities for his ransom. Immediately on obtaining 
his liberty, he manned some Milesian vessels, overpowered the 
pirates, and conducted them as prisoners to Pergamus, where 
he shortly afterwards crucified them — a punishment he had 
frequently threatened in sport when he was their prisoner. He 
then repaired to Rhodes, where he studied for a short time 
under ApoUonius, but soon afterwards crossed over into Asia, on 
the outbreak of the Mithridatic War in 74 B.C. Here, although 
he held no public office, he collected troops on his own authority, 
and repulsed the commander of the king, and then returned to 
Rome to receive from the people his first public appointment as 



Chap. XXXI.] CAESAR AND CTCERO. 257 

a militj^vy tribune. His affable manners, and still more his 
unbounded liberality, won the hearts of the people. 

Caesar obtained the quaestorship in 68 e.g. In this year he 
lost his aunt Julia, the widow of Marius, and his own wife 
Cornelia. He pronounced orations over both of them in the 
forum, in which he took the opportunity of passing a panegyric 
upon the former leaders of the popular party. At the funeral of 
his aunt he caused the images of Marius to be borne in the pro- 
cession ; they were welcomed with loud acclamations by the 
people, who were delighted to see their former favourite brought, 
as it were, into public again. 

Caesar warmly supported the Gabinian and Manilian laws, 
which bestowed upon Pompey the command against the pirates 
and Mithridates : for to support these laws was to weaken the 
power of the senate. In 65 e.g. he was curule aedile, and still 
further increased his popularity by the splendid games which he 
exhibited. He now took a step which openly proclaimed him 
the leader of the Marian party. He caused the statues of 
Mirius and the Cimbrian trophies, which had been all destroyed 
by Sulla, to be privately restored and placed at night in the 
Capitol. In the morning the city was in the highest state of 
excitement ; the veterans of Marius wept with joy at beholding 
once more the features of their leader and the trophies of their 
victories, and greeted Caesar with shouts of applause. Q. 
Catulus brought the conduct of Caesar before the notice of the 
senate, but the popular excitement was so great that they 
thought it better to let the matter drop. This year brought 
Caesar into the full current of home politics, and into contact 
with a man of very different birth, temperament, and political 
views. 

M. TuLLius Cicero was born at Arpinum in 106 e.g., and 
consequently in the same year as Pompey. His father was of 
the equestrian order, and hved upon his here- 
ditary estate near Arpinum, but none of his 
ancestors had ever held any of the offices of Eome. Cicero 
was, therefore, according to the Roman phraseology, a New 
Man (see p. 155). He served his first and only campaign in the 
social war (89 e.g.), and in the troubled times which followed 
he gave himself up with indefatigable perseverance to those 
studies which were essential to his success as a lawyer and 

& 



258 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXI. 

orator. When tranquillity was restored by the final discomfiture 
of the Marian party he came forward as a pleader at the age of 
twenty-five. The young orator was not lacking in courage ; the 
first important speech which he delivered upon a criminal trial 
was that in defence of Sex. Roscius of Ameria, who was charged 
with parricide by Chrysogonus, a freedman of Sulla, supported, 
as it was understood, by the influence of his patron. The speech 
contained a terrible invective against the creatures of the 
dictator, and, though kindly exempting their master from any 
active participation in their frauds, was the first strong protest 
raised against the iniqu'tics of the Sullan regime. In con- 
sequence of the failure of his health Cicero quitted Rome in 
79 B.C., and spent two years in study in the philosophical and 
rhetorical schools of Athens and Asia Minor. On his return to 
the city he took his station in the foremost rank of forensic 
orators, and ere long stood alone in acknowledged pre-eminence; 
his most formidable rivals — Hortensius, eight years his senior, 
and C. Aurelius Cotta, who had long been kings of the bar — 
having been forced, after a short but sharp contest for supremacy, 
to yield. 

Cicero's reputation and popularity already stood so high that 
he was elected quaestor (76 B.C.), although, comparatively 
speaking, a stranger, and certainly unsupported by any powerful 
family interest. He served in Sicily as quaestor of Lilybaeum 
under the propraetor Sex. Peducaeus. In 70 b c. he gained 
great renown by his impeachment of Verres for his oppression 
of the Sicilians, whom he had ruled as propraetor of Syracuse for 
the space of three years (73-71 B.C.). The most strenuous exer- 
tions were made by Verres, backed by some of the most powerful 
families, to wrest the case out of the hands of Cicero, who, how- 
ever, defeated the attempt; and having demanded and been 
allowed 110 days for the purpose of collecting evidence, he 
instantly set out for Sicily, which he traversed in less than two 
months, and returned attended by all the necessary witnesses. 
Another desperate effort was made by Hortensius, now consul- 
elect, who was counsel for the defendant, to raise up obstacles 
which might have the effect of delajang the trial until the com- 
mencement of the following year; but here again he was 
defeated by the promptitude and decision of his opponent, 
who opening the case very briefly, proceeded at once to the 



Chap. XXXI.] FIRST CATILINARIAN CONSPIRACY. 259 

examination of the witnesses and the production of the deposi- 
tions and other papers, which taken together constituted a mass of 
testimonjr so decisive that Verres gave up the contest as hopeless, 
and retired at once into exile without attempting any defence. 
In the course of his accusation, Cicero pointed out that senatorial 
juries themselves were on their trial — a warning all the more 
signiiicant as the judiciary law of Aurelius * had already been 
proposed. 

In 69 B.C. Cicero was aedile and in 66 praetor. In the latter 
year he delivered his celebrated address to the people in favour 
of the Manilian law. Having now the consulship in view, and 
knowing that, as a new man, he must expect the most deter- 
mined opposition from the nobles, he resolved to throw himself 
into the arms of the popular party, and to secure the friendship 
of Pompey, now certainly the most important person in the 
Republic. 

The same year (66 b.c.) was marked by the first conspiracy of 
Catiline: a plot of such obscurity that its very existence has 
been doubted ; yet it seems certain that the move- 
ment which culminated two years later must have ^^^st Catili- 
already commenced. The circumstances of the gnij-acv 
times were favourable to a bold and unprincipled 
adventurer. A widespread feeling of disaffection extended over 
the whole of Italy. The veterans of Sulla had already squandered 
their ill-gotten wealth, and longed for a renewal of those scenes 
of blood which they had found so profitable. The multitudes 
whose estates he had confiscated and whose relations he had 
proscribed were eagerly watching for any movement which 
might give them a chance of becoming robbers and murderers 
in their turn. The evil of debt was at its height, and the lower 
classes in Rome and Italy had real grievances which called for 
settlement. Nor were leaders wanting; the younger nobility, as 
a class, were thoroughly demoralized, for the most part bank- 
rupts in fortune as well as in fame, and eager for any change 
which might relieve them from their embarrassments. The 
rabble were restless and discontented, filled with envy and hatred 
against the rich and powerful. The time seemed favourable for 
revolution; for never was the executive weaker. The senate 
and magistrates were wasting their energies in petty disputes, 

* Page 242. 



260 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXI. 

indifferent to the wider interests of the state. Pompey, at the 
head of all the best troops of the Republic, was prosecuting a 
long-protracted war in the East ; there was no army in Italy, 
where all was hushed in a treacherous calm. 

Few of the nobles at this time were the subjects of darker 
rumours than L. Sergius Catilina. He was the descendant of 
an ancient patrician family which had sunk into 
poverty, and he first appears in history as a zealous 
partisan of Sulla. During the horrors of the proscription he 
killed his brother-in-law, Q. Caecihus ; he was suspected of an 
intrigue with a vestal virgin ; and it was rumoured that he had 
made away with his first wife and afterwards with his son in 
order that he might marry the profligate Aurelia Orestilla, who 
objected to the presence of a grown-up step-child. Such is the 
incredibly black picture which two contemporaries, Sallust and 
Cicero, have painted of a man who moved in the best society, 
enjoyed great popularity among the younger nobles, and was a 
successful candidate in the race for honours. It is more certain 
that he possessed extraordinary powers of mind and body, and 
that all who came in contact with him submitted more or less to 
the charm of his manner and his many-sided genius. He was 
praetor in 68 b.c. ; was governor of Africa during the following 
year ; and returned to Rome in 66 B.C. in order to press his suit 
for the consulship. The election for 65 b.c. was carried by P. 
Autronius Paetus and P. Cornelius Sulla, both of whom were 
soon after convicted, of bribery, and their places supplied by 
their competitors and accusers, L. AureUus Cotta and L. Manlius 
Torquatus. Catiline, who was desirous of becoming a candi- 
date, had been disqualified in consequence of an impeachment 
for extortion in his province preferred by P. Clodius 
Pulcher. Exasperated by their disappointment, Autronius 
and Catiline are said to have formed a project to murder 
the new consuls upon the first of January when offering up 
their vows in the Capitol, after which the conspirators were 
to seize the fasces. This extraordinary design is said to have 
been frustrated" solely by the impatience of Catiline, who gave 
the signal prematurely before the whole of the armed agents 
had assembled. 

Catiline was soon afterwards left unfettered by his acquittal 
on the charge of extortion — a result secured by collusion with 



Chap. XXXI.] CONSULSHIP OF CICERO. 261 

his prosecutor — and his mind was again bent on securing the 
highest dignity of the state. Had he become consul for 63 B.C., 
there would have been no Catilinarian con- 
spiracy, but probably a very violent financial revo- ^ kv ^^ 
lution conducted on the lines of the constitution. 
He planned an abolition of all existing debts and wholesale 
measures of confiscation; and his agents were already chosen. 
They were men of broken fortunes ; chief amongst them were 
Lentulus, an ex-consul who had been struck out of the list of 
the senate, and Cethegus, a violent and sanguinary revolu- 
tionist. 

Catiline's competitors at the consular elections in 64 b.c. were 
Cicero and C. Antonius. Antonius he had already secured as 

an ally, and the struggle lay between himself and _. 

n- m i. -u ^e • j: u- Cicero consul. 

Cicero, ihe government, halt conscious of his 

plans, was in the utmost alarm. There was no senatorial 
candidate who stood a chance of success, and, therefore, tin-ow- 
ing its prejudices against a new man to the winds, it 
warmly supported Cicero. The orator, who already had the 
support of the equites and of a large section of the municipal 
voters of Italy, was returned at the head of the poll with 
Antonius as his colleague. 

When Cicero assumed the consulship in 63 B.C. the democratic 
party was in great straits. A fragment of it was struggling for 
revolution with Catiline. The larger and more 
respectable portion now strove to gain for its f^^^i^'^ 
leaders a position in the state which might 
balance that of Pompey in the East. An agrarian law was 
introduced by the tribune Rullus which, under tlie pretext of 
providing land by purchase for the poorer citizens, aimed at 
establishing a commission of ten men, with vast powers at home 
and abroad. If the democrats relied on Cicero's support, they 
were mistaken. The orator paid his debt to the aristocracy and 
to Pompey, whose position the law imperilled, by opposing and 
defeating Rullus' bill. 

The democrats were outwitted ; bnt Cicero had now to meet 
the plots of the revolutionists. The safety of the _. 
state depended on his watchfulness, and he theconsraraov 
showed consummate skill in baffling what had 
aow become a formidable conspiracy. 



262 HISTORY OP ROME. [Chap. XXXI. 

He gained over his colleague Antonius by resigning to him 
the province of Macedonia. Meantime he be- 
Second Cati- came acquainted with every detail of the plot 
SDiracv " ^'h'"^"?^^ Fulvia, the mistress of Q. Curius, one 
of Catiline's intimate associates. 

Thus informed, Cicero called a meeting of the senate on the 
21st of October, when he openly denounced Catiline, charged 
him broadly with treason, and asserted that the 28th was the 
period fixed for the murder of the leading men in the Republic. 
The senate thereupon invested the consuls with dictatorial power. 
The comitia for the election of the consuls was now held. 
Catiline, again a candidate, was again rejected. Driven to 
despair by this fresh disappointment, he resolved at once to 
b.ing matters to a crisis. On the night of the 6th of November 
he summoned a meeting of the ringleaders at the house of M. 
Porcius Laeca, and made arrangements for an immediate out- 
break. Cicero, being immediately informed of what took place, 
summoned, on the 8th of November, a meeting of the senate in 
the temple of Jupiter Stator, and there delivered the first of 
his celebrated orations against Catiline. Catiline, who upon his 
entrance had been avoided by all, and was sitting alone upon a 
bench from which every one had shrunk, rose to reply, but had 
scai'cely commenced when his words were drowned by the 
shouts of " enemy " and " parricide " which burst from the 
whole assembly, and he rushed forth with threats and curses on 
his lips. He now resolved to strike some decisive blow before 
troops could be levied to oppose him, and accordingly, leaving 
the chief control of affairs at Rome in the hands of Lentulus 
and Cethegus, he set forth in the dead of night, and proceeded 
to join Manlius, an old soldier who was mustering the troops of 
the revolutionists at Faesulae. 

Shortly afterwards fresh evidence came into Cicero's hands 
which, he thought, justified prompter action. Ambassadors 
from the Gallic tribe of the Allobroges, who were 
Eome'^^ ^^^ ^ ""^^ ^* Rome, had been tampered with by the 
conspirators. They thought fit to reveal the 
communication to Q. Fabius Sanga, the patron of their state, 
who in his turn acquainted Cicero. By the instructions of the 
latter the ambassadors affected great zeal in the undertaking, 
and obtained a written agreement signed by Lentulus, Cethegus, 



Chap. XXXI.] SECOND CATILINARIAN CONSPIRACY. 263 

and others. They quitted Rome soon after midnight on the 3rd 
of December, accompanied by one T. Volturcius, who was 
charged with despatches for Catiline. The ambassadors were 
seized as they were crossing the Mulvian bridge by two of the 
praetors who had been stationed in ambush to intercept them, 

Cicero instantly summoned Lentulus, Cethegus, and the other 
conspirators to his presence. Lentulus being praetor, the 
consul led him by the hand to the Temple of 
Concord, where the senate was already met ; the r^ ^ arrested' 
rest of the accused followed closely guarded. 
Volturcius, finding escape impossible, agreed, upon his own 
personal safety being insured, to make a full confession. His 
statements were confirmed by the Allobroges, and the testimony 
was rendered conclusive by the signatures of the ringleaders, 
which they were unable to deny. The guilt of Lentulus, 
Cethegus, and seven others being thus established, Lentulus 
was forced to abdicate his office, and then with the rest was 
consigned to the charge of certain senators, who became respon- 
sible for their appearance. 

These circumstances, as they had occurred, were then narrated 
by Cicero in his third oration, delivered in the forum. On the 
nones (5th) of December the senate was again 
summoned to determine upon the fate of the ■Execution of 
conspirators. The feeling of the senate was in guij-Qtop- 
favour of their execution until the resolution of 
many was weakened by a vigorous speech from Caesar. While 
expressing horror of the conspiracy, he deprecated the death- 
penalty as unconstitutional, and proposed, as an alternative, 
that the property of the prisoners should be confiscated, and that 
they should be kept in perpetual confinement in municipal towns 
in Italy. But the scale was turned again by Cato's speech. He 
strongly advocated that the conspirators should be put to death, 
and his view found favour with the consul, who put his opinion 
to the vote. It was carried, and on the same night Lentulus 
and his associates were strangled by the common executioner in 
the Tullianum, a loathsome dungeon on the slope of the Capitol. 

While things went thus at Rome Catiline had collected a force 
amounting to two legions, although not above one-fourth part 
were fully equipped. When the news of the failure of the 
plot at Rome reached his camp many deserted. He thereupon 



264 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXI. 

attempted to cross the Apennines and take refuge in Cisalpine 

Gaul, but the passes were strictly guarded by Metellus Celer 

. . with three legions. Finding, therefore, that es- 

defeated ^^P^ ^^^ *^"^ ^'^ ^"^ front while Antonius was 

pressing on his rear, Catiline determined as a last 
resource to hazard an engagement. Antonius, in consequence of 
real or pretended illness, resigned the command to M. Petreius, 
a skilful soldier. The battle was obstinate and bloody. The 
rebels fought with the fury of despair ; and when Catiline saw 
ftiat all was lost he charged headlong into the thickest of the 
fight and fell sword in hand (62 B.C.). 

Although it is impossible to say how dangerous the Catilinarian 
movement really was, Cicero seemed for the moment to have 
rendered important services to the state. Catulus 
Uega "y ? in the senate and Cato in the forum hailed him as 
the "Father of his Country;" thanksgivings in 
his name were voted to the gods; and all Italy joined in 
testifying enthusiastic admiration and gratitude. Cicero's elation 
knew no bounds ; he fancied that his political influence was now 
supreme, and looked upon himself as a match even for Pompey. 
But his splendid achievement contained the germ of his humilia- 
tion and downfall. There could be no doubt that the punishment 
inHicted by the senate upon Lentulus and his associates was a 
violation of the fundamental principles of the Roman constitution, 
which declared that no citizen could be put to death until 
sentenced by the whole body of the people assembled in their 
con)itia, and for this act Cicero, as the presiding magistrate, was 
held responsible. It was in vain to urge that the consuls had 
been armed with dictatorial power ; the senate, in the present 
instance, assuming to themselves judicial functions which they 
had no right to exercise, gave orders for the execution of a 
sentence which they had no right to pronounce. Nor were 
Cicero's enemies long in discovering this vulnerable point. On the 
last day of the year, when, according to established custom, he 
ascended the Rostra to give an account to the people of the 
events of his consulship, Metellus Nepos, one of the new tribunes, 
forbade him to speak, exclaiming that the man who had put 
Roman citizens to death without granting them a hearing was 
himself unworthy of being heard. But this attack was premature. 
The audience had not yet forgotten their recent eacape; so that, 



Chap. XXXI.] SECOND CATILINARIAN CONSPIRACY. 265 

when Cicero swore with a loud voice that " he had saved the 
Kepublic and the city from ruin," the crowd with one voice 
responded that he had sworn truly. 

It was rumoured that many other eminent men had been 
privy to Catiline's conspiracy. Among others the names of 
Crassus and Caesar were mentioned in connection Kumoured 
with the first conspiracy of 66 B.C., but the par- complicity of 
ticipation of either of these men in such an enter- the democratic 
prise seems most improbable. The interests of leaders. 
Crassus were opposed to such an adventure ; his vast wealth 
was emp]o3'ed in a variety of speculations which would have 
been ruined in a general overthrow ; while he had not the 
energy or ability to seize and retain the helm in the confusion 
that would have ensued. Of Caesar's guilt there is no satis- 
factory evidence, and it is improbable that so keen-sighted a 
man would have leagued with such a desperate adventurer as 
Catiline. It is true that Caesar was suspected by some of the 
leading optimates ; but then to men of this stamp all " radicals " 
(improbi), as Caesar and Catiline were indifferently called, are 
alike. It is impossible to say how much complicity there must 
be between the two extremes of the same party ; but it is 
certain that in the next year (62 B.C.), when a suspicion of 
Caesar's guilt was raised, he challenged with success Cicero's 
testimony that he had of his own accord given the consul 
evidence concerning the conspiracy. 




Coin of Pompey. 




C. Julius Caesar. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



FROM POMPEY'R RETURN FROM THE EAST TO CICERo's BANISH- 
MENT AND RECALL. 62-57 B.C. 



PoMPEY reached Italy in 62 p..c. To the astonishment and 
relief of all parties, he disbanded his army immediately after 
landing at Brundusium. He did not, however, 
Pompey's ^^^^j. j^Q^g j^ triumph till the 30th of September, 

trLiunnli ^^ ^'^' "^^^ triumph lasted two days, and sur- 

passed in splendour every spectacle that Rome 
had yet seen. The tablets carried in the procession, on 
■which his victories were emblazoned, declared that he had 
subdued 14 nations, taken 1000 strong fortresses, 900 towns, 
and 800 ships; that he had founded 39 cities; that he had 
increasdd the revenue of the Roman people by 85 million 



Chap. XXXII.] POM PEY'S RETURN FROM THE EAST. 267 

sesterces ; and that he had brought into the public treasury 
20,000 talents. Before his triumphal car walked a crowd of 
piratical chieftains, Eastern princes, and hostages from Albania 
and Iberia. 

"With this triumph the first and most glorious part of Fompey's 
life may be said to have ended. Hitherto he had been employed 
almost exclusively in war ; but now he was called upon to play 
■ a prominent part in the civil commotions of the Republic — a 
part for which neither his natural talents nor his previous habits 
had in the least fitted him. 

From the death of Sulla to the present time, a period of 
nearly twenty years, he had been unquestionably the first man 
in the Roman world, and it is certain that, down to . 
the outbreak of the civil war, he was still looked o/j>^m °^ 
on as the leading man in the state, although he 
must himself have felt that the real power was centering in 
Caesar's hands. Pompey, on his return to Rome, hardly knew 
to which party he might have to attach himself. He had been 
appointed to the command against the pirates and Mithridates 
in opposition to the aristocracy, and they still regarded him with 
jealousy and distrust. At the same time he seems to have been 
indisposed to unite himself to the popular party, now more than 
ever discredited by the rash proceedings of Catiline. But the 
object which engaged the immediate attention of Pompey was 
to obtain from the senate a ratification of his acts in Asia, 
and an assignment of lands which he had promised to his 
veterans. In order to secure this object, he had purchased the 
consulship for one of his officers, L. Afranius, who was elected 
with Q. Metellus for 60 B.C. But L. Afranius was a man of 
slender ability ; and the senate, glad of an opportunity to put 
an affront upon a person whom they both feared and hated, 
resolutely refused to sanction Pompey's measures in Asia. 

This was the deciding point ; it is probable that, even before 
his return, overtures had been made to him by the democratic 
party. They were now accepted; the short- 
sighted policy of the optimates threw Pompey Ji^nction with 
into Caesar's arms, and thus sealed the downfall craggag 
of their party. Pompey was resolved to fulfil, at 
all costs, the promises which he had made to his Asiatic clients 
and bis veteran troops. 



268 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXII. 

Caesar had returned from Spain in the middle of this year. 
He had been in that province for one year as propraetor, 
during which time he displayed some military ability and a 
capacity for eniiching himself at the expense of the provincials. 
For some successes gained in Lusitania his troops had saluted 
him as imperator, and the senate had honoured him by a public 
thanksgiving. He now laid claim to a triumph, and at the same 
time wished to become a candidate for the consulship. For the 
latter purpose his presence in Rome was necessary ; but as he 
could not enter the city without relinquishing his triumph, he 
applied to the senate to be exempted from the usual law, and to 
become a candidate in his absence. As this was refused, he at 
once relinquished his triumph, entered the city, and stood for 
the consulship. He was elected without difficulty, but the 
aristocracy succeeded in associating with him in the consulship 
M. Bibulus, who belonged to the opposite party, and who had 
likewise been his colleague in the aedileship and praetorship. 

The coalition still lacked the support of the capitalist class ; 
but this was soon supplied b}^ M. Crassus, who, by his con- 

nexions and immense wealth, possessed great 
triumvirate political influence. Pompey and Crassus had for 

a long time past been deadly enemies, but Caesar 
effected a reconciliation, and the three entered into an agree- 
ment to divide the power between themselves. This first 
triumvirate, as it is called, was therefore merely a private 
arrangement between the three most powerful men at Rome, 
which remained a secret till the proceedings of Caesar in his 
consulship showed that he was supported by a power against 
which it was in vain for his enemies to struggle. 

As soon as Caesar had entered upon his consulship he fulfilled 
part of his compact with Pompey, and at the same time attracted 

the sympathy of the masses by proposing an 
Caesar's con- ^2.^^^^.;^^^ ]a,^y for t^e division of the rich Cam- 
sulsnip. 

panian land — a portion of the public domain 

which had been exempted even from the legislation of the 
Gracchi. The opposition of the aristocratical party was in vain, 
and Pompey and Crassus both spoke in favour of the law. On 
the day on which it was put to the vote Bibulus and the other 
members of the aristocracy were driven out of the forum by 
force of arms : the law was carried, the commissioners appointed, 



Chap. XXXII.] CONSULSHIP OF CAESAR. 269 

and about 20,000 citizens, comprising of course a great number 
of Pompey's veterans, subsequently received allotments, Bibulus, 
despairing of being able to offer any further resistance to Caesar, 
shut himself up in his own house, and attempted to interrupt 
public business by the announcement of omens, which were 
consistently disregarded by his colleague. 

Caesar obtained from the people a ratification of all Pompey's 
acts in Asia ; and, to cement their union more closely, gave 
him his only daughter Julia in marriage. His next step was 
to gain over the equites, who had rendered efficient service to 
Cicero in his consulship, and had hitherto supported the aristo- 
cratical party. An excellent opportunity now occurred for 
accomplishing this object. In their eagerness to obtain the 
farming of the public taxes in Asia, the equites had agreed to 
pay too large a sum, and accordingly petitioned the senate for 
more favourable terms. This, however, had been opposed by 
Metellus Celer, Cato, and others of the aristocracy ; and Caesar 
therefore now carried a law to relieve the equites from one- 
third of the sum which they had agreed to pay. Having thus 
gratified the people, the equites, and Pompey, he was easily able 
to obtain for himself the provinces which he wished. 

It is not attributing any extraordinary foresight to Caesar to 
suppose that he already saw that the struggle between the 
, different parties at Rome must eventually be terminated by the 
sword. The same causes were still in operation which had led 
to the civil wars between Marius and Sulla ; and he was well 
aware that the aristocracy would not hesitate to call in the 
assistance of force if they should ever succeed in detaching 
Pompey from his interests. 

It was therefore of the first importance for him to obtain an 
army which he might attach to himself by victories and rewards. 
Accordingly he induced the tribune Vatinius to 
propose a bill to the people granting him the ttfcaesar^^ 
provinces of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum for 
five years (58-54 b.c). Transalpine Gaul was shortly after- 
wards added. Caesar chose the Gallic provinces, as he would 
thus be able to pass the mnter in Italy, and keep up his com- 
munication with the city, while the disturbed state of Further 
Gaul promised him sufficient materials for engaging in a series of 
wars in which he might employ an army that would afterwards 



270 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXII. 

be devoted to his purposes. In addition to these considerations, 
Caesar was also actuated by the ambition of subduing for ever 
that nation vsrhich had once sacl^ed Rome, and which had been, 
from the earUest times, an object of dread to the Roman state. 

Cicero, in spite of earnest invitations, had held aloof from the 

triumvirate ; and Caesar felt that it would be unsafe to leave 

Rome unless a man with a large Italian following, 

wcero s ^^^ whose matchless oratory was now at the 

position. • r ii *. • 1 / 

service ot tne senatorial party, was in some way 
silenced. It was needless to devise means for Cicero's banish- 
ment; it was only necessary to refuse him protection against 
the attacks of Clodius. 

P. Clodius Pulcher was the darling of the city mob, and repre- 
sented their views as to the illegality of the execu- 
tion of the Catilinarian conspirators. His hostility 
to Cicero was increased by a private grudge. In 62 B.C., 
while the wife of Caesar was celebrating in the house of her 
husband, then praetor and Pontifex Maximus, the rites of the 
Bona Dea, from which all male creatures were excluded, 
it was discovered that Clodius had found his way into 
the mansion disguised in women's apparel, and, having been 
detected, had made his escape by the help of a female slave. 
The matter was laid before the senate, and by them referred 
to the members of the Pontifical College, who passed a reso- 
lution that sacrilege had been committed. Caesar forthwith 
divorced his wife. Clodius was impeached and brought to 
trial. In defence he pleaded an alibi ; but Cicero came forward 
as a witness, and swore that he had met and spoken to Clodius 
in Rome on the day in question. In spite of this decisive testi- 
mony, and the evident guilt of the accused, the judices pro- 
nounced him innocent by a majority of voices (61 B.C.). Clodius 
now vowed deadly vengeance against Cicero. To accomplish 
his purpose more readily, he determined to become a candidate 
for the tribunate, but for this it was necessary that he should 
be adopted into a plebeian family. This, after protracted opposi- 
tion, was at length accomplished through the interference of the 
triumvirs, and he was elected tribune for 58 B.C. 

One of the first acts of Clodius, after entering upon office, was 
to propose a bill interdicting from fire and water any one who 
should be found to have put a Roman citizen to death untried. 



Chap. XXXII.] BANISHMENT OF CICERO. 271 

Cicero changed his attire, and, assuming the garb of one accused, 
went round the forum soHciting the compassion of all whom 
he met. For a brief period public sympathy was . 
awakened. A large number of the senate and ^ cicero 
the equites appeared also in mourning, and 
the better portion of the citizens seemed resolved to espouse 
his cause. Bui all demonstrations of such feelings were promptly 
repressed by Piso and Gabinius, the consuls for the year, who 
were both creatures of the triumvirs ; and Cicero was left to 
his fate. Giving way to despair, he quitted Rome at the 
beginning of April (58 B.C.), and reached Brundusium about the 
middle of the month. From thence he crossed over to Greece. 
The instant that the departure of Cicero became known, 
Clodius passed a law pronouncing his banishment, forbidding 
any one to entertain or harbour him, and denouncing as a 
public enemy whosoever should take any steps towards pro- 
curing his recall. His mansion on the Palatine, and his villas at 
Tusculum and Formiae, were at the san^e time given over to 
plunder and destruction. 

Clodius, having thus gratified his hatred, did not care to 
consult any longer the views of the triumvirs. He restored 
Tigranes to liberty, whom Pompey had kept in 
confinement, ridiculed the great imperator before noses Pomtiev 
the people, and was accused of making an attempt 
upon his life. Pompey in revenge resolved to procure the 
recall of Cicero from banishment, and probably Caesar, who 
never ceased to court the orator's support, thought that the 
lesson had been sufficient. The new consuls (57 B.C.), too, 
were favourable to Cicero ; but though Clodius was no longer 
in office, he had several partisans among the tribunes who 
offered the most vehement opposition to the restoration of his 
great enemy. 

One of the chief supporters of Cicero was the tribune T, 
Annius Milo, a man as unprincipled and violent as Clodius 
himself. He opposed force to force, and at the __., 
head of a band of gladiators attacked the hired 
ruffians of Clodius. The streets of Rome were the scenes of 
almost daily conflicts between the leaders of these assassins. 

At length the senate, with the full approbation of Pompey, 
determined to invite the voters from the different parts of Italy 



272 HISTORY OP ROME. [Chap. XXXII. 

to repair to Rome and assist in carrying a law for the recall of 
Cicero. Accordingly, on the 4th of August, the bill was passed 
, by an overwhelming majority. On the same day 

Cicero quitted Dyrrachium, and crossed over to 
Brundusium. He received deputations and congratulatory 
addresses from all the towns on the line of the Appian Way ; 
and having arrived at Rome on the 4th of September, a vast 
multitude poured forth to meet him, while the crowd rent the 
air with acclamations as he passed through the forum and 
ascended the Capitol to render thanks to Jupiter (57 B.C.). 




Temple of Nemausus (iVimes), now called the Maison Carrie. 



CHAPTEE XXXIII. 



Caesar's campaigns in gaul. 58-50 b.c. 



Caesar set out for liis province immediately after Cicero had 
gone into exile (58 b.c). During the next nine years he was 
occupied with the subjugation of Gaul, In this time he con- 
quered the whole of Transalpine Gaul, which, with the exception 
of the province of Narbonensis, had hitherto been independent 
of Rome. Twice he crossed the Rhine, and carried the terror of 
the Roman arms beyond that river. Twice he landed in Britain, 
which had been hitherto unknown to the Romans. We can 
only offer a very brief sketch of the principal events of each 
year. 



274 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXIII. 

First Campaign, 58 B.C. — Caesar left Rome towards the latter 
end of April, and arrived at Genava in eight days. His first 

campaign was against the Helvetii, a Gallic people 
Defeat of the gj^^ated to the north of the Lake of Geneva, and 

between the Rhine and Mount Jura. This people, 
quitting their homes under pressure from the Germans, had 
passed through the country of the Sequani, and were plundering 
the territories of the Aedui. Three out of their four clans had 
already crossed the Arar (Saone) ; but the fourth, which was still 
on the eastern side of the river, was surprised by Caesar and 
cut to pieces. He then threw a bridge across the Arar, followed 
them cautiously for some days, and at length fought a pitched 
battle with them near the town of Bibracte {Auttm). The 
Helvetii were defeated with great slaughter, and the remnant 
compelled to return to their former homes. 

This great victory roused the Gauls to ask Caesar's assistance 
against the Germans ; and the Aedui, with the consent of the 

central Gallic tribes, solicited his help against 

fl^tvi^ Ariovistus, a German king who had invaded Gaul, 

Germans. ^^^ ^^^ constantly bringing over the Rhine fresh 

swarms of Germans. Caesar commanded Ario- 
vistus to abstain from introducing any more of his countrymen 
into Gaul, to restore the hostages to the Aedui, who were clients 
of Rome, and not to attack the latter or their allies. A haughty 
answer was returned to these commands, and both parties pre- 
pared for war. Caesar advanced northwards through the 
country of the Sequani, took possession of Vesontio (Besangon), 
an important town on the Dubis {Douhs), and some days after- 
wards fought a decisive battle with Ariovistus, who suffered a 
total defeat, and fled with the remains of his army to the Rhine, 
a distance of fifty miles. Only a very few, and amongst others 
ArioAnstus himself, crossed the river ; the rest were cut to pieces 
by the Roman cavalry. The Rhine had now become, what it 
afterwards remained, the boundary of the Roman empire against 
the Germans. 

Second Campaign, 57 B.C. — Central Gaul was for the moment 

pacified ; but the northern tribes had not sought 
f the Belffae Caesar's help, and now the cantons of the Belgae, 

who dwelt between the Sequana (Seine) and the 
Rhine, alarmed at his success, had entered into a confederacy 



Chap. XXXIir.] CAESAR'S CAMPAIGNS IN GAUL. 275 

to oppose him, and had raised an army of 300,000 men. 
Caesar opened the campaign by marching into the country of 
the Remi, who submitted at his approach. He then crossed the 
Axona (Aisne), and pitched his camp in a strong position on the 
right bank. The enemy soon began to suffer from want of pro- 
visions, and they came to the resolution of breaking up their 
vast army, and retiring to their own territories. Hitherto Caesar 
had remained in his entrenchments, but he now broke up from 
his quarters, and resumed the offensive. The Suessiones, the 
Bellovaci, and the Ambiani were subdued in succession, or sur- 
rendered of their own accord ; but a more formidable task 
awaited him when he came to the Nervii, the most warlike of 
all the Belgic tribes. In their country, near the river Sabis 
{Sambre), the Roman army was surprised by the enemy while 
engaged in fortifying the camp. The attack of the Nervii was 
so unexpected that before the Romans could form in rank the 
enemy was in their midst : the Roman soldiers began to give 
way, and the battle seemed entirely lost. Caesar freely exposed 
his own person in the first line of the battle, and discharged ahke 
the duties of a brave soldier and an able general. His exertions 
and the discipline of the Roman troops at length triumphed ; 
and the Nervii were defeated with such immense slaughter, that 
out of 60,000 fighting-men only 500 remained in the state. 
The Belgae were subdued, and the Reini, as the clients of Rome, 
made the leading canton in the district. 

TJiird Campaign, 56 B.C.— In the third campaign Caesar com- 
pleted the subjugation of Gaul. He conducted in person a naval 
war against the Veneti, the inhabitants of the „ 
modern Brittany, and by means of his lieutenants ygj,„fj 
conquered the remaining tribes who still held out. 
In the later part of the summer Caesar marched against the 
Morini and Menapii (in the neighbourhood of Calais and 
Boulogne), who retired into their forest fastnesses. Thus all 
Gaul had been reduced in three years to an outward show of 
obedience, which ill expressed the yet unbroken spirit of the 
people. 

Fourth Campaign, 55 B.C. — But Caesar felt that the conquest 
of Gaul was useless unless measures were taken to check the 
tide of German immigration from across the Rhine ; for it 
was this that caused the movement of the Celtic nations which 



276 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXIIL 

had so often threatened the safety of Italy, Two German tribes, 
the Usipetes and the Tencteri, had just been driven out of 
their own country by the Suevi, and had crossed 
Renewed con- ^^^ jj^^jj^g ^j^i^ ^j^g intention of settling in Gaul, 
flicts with the mi • 1 n 1 J 4. 

Germans Ihis, however, Caesar was resolved to prevent, 

and accordingly prepared to attack them. 
The Germans opened negotiations with him, but while these 
wei'e going on, a body of their cavalry defeated Caesar's Gallic 
horse. On the next day all the German chiefs came into 
Caesar's camp to apologise for what had been done ; but Caesar 
detained them, and straightway led his troops to attack the 
enemy. Deprived of their leaders and taken by surprise, the 
Germans, after a feeble resistance, took to flight, and were 
almost all destroyed by the Roman cavalry. 

After this victory Caesar resolved to cross the Rhine in order 
to strike terror into the Germans. In ten days he built a bridge 

of boats across the river, probably in the neigh- 
the Bhine bourhood of Cologne; and after spending eighteen 

days on the eastern side of the Rhine, and 
ravaging the country of the Sugambri, he returned to Gaul and 
broke down the bridge. 

Although the greater part of the summer was now gone, 
Caesar resolved to invade Britain. His object in undertaking 

this expedition at such a late period of the year 
of Britaiir^^*'^ ^^^ rather to inspire the natives with the fear of 

attack, and to force them to desist from their com- 
munications with Gaul, than with any view to permanent con- 
quest. He accordingly took with him only two legions, with 
which he sailed from the port Itius (probably Wissant, between 
Calais and Boulogne), and effected a landing somewhere near 
the South Foreland, after a severe struggle with the natives. 
Several of the British tribes hereupon sent offers of submission ; 
but, in consequence of the loss of a great part of the Roman fleet 
a few days afterwards, they took up arms again. Defeated, 
they renewed their offers of submission to Caesar, who simply 
demanded double the number of hostages he had originally 
required, as he was anxious to return to Gaul before the 
autumnal equinox. 

The news of these victories over the Germans and far-distant 
Britons was received at Rome with the greatest enthusiasm. 



Chap. XXXIII.] CAESAR'S CAMPAIGNS IN GAUL. 277 

The senate voted a public thanksgiving of twenty days, not- 
withstanding the opposition of Cato, who declared that Caesar 
ought to be delivered up to the Usipetes and Tencteri, to atone 
for his treachery in seizing the sacred persons of ambassadors. 

Fifth Cam'paign., 54 B.C. — The gi'eater part of Caesar's fifth 
campaign was occupied with his second invasion of Britain. He 
sailed from the port Itius with an army of five 
legions, and landed without opposition at the Second in- 
same place as in the former year. The British j^^*"^ ° 
states had entrusted the supreme command to 
Cassivellaunus, a chief who ruled Middlesex and the surrounding 
districts to the north of the Thames (Tamesis). The Britons 
bravely opposed the progress of the invaders, but were defeated 
in a series of engagements. Caesar crossed the Thames above 
London, probably in the neighbourhood of Kingston, took the 
town of Cassivellaunus, and conquered great part of the counties 
of Essex and Middlesex. In consequence of these disasters, 
Cassivellaunus sued for peace ; and after demanding hostages, 
and settling the tribute which Britain should pay yearly to the 
Roman people, Caesar returned to Gaul towards the end of the 
summer. Nothing was gained by this invasion in the way of a 
permanent occupation of the island ; but this was, perhaps, not 
intended. Caesar's immediate and professed object — to prevent 
the Celts of Britain from furnishing assistance to disaffected 
Gallic chiefs across the Channel — was possibly attained. 

In consequence of the great scarcity of corn in Gaul, Caesar 
was obliged to divide his forces, and station his legions for the 
winter in different parts. This seemed to the 
Gauls a favourable opportunity for recovering 5'^ ■, 

their lost independence, and destroying their con- ugj-yji 
querors. The Eburones, a Gallic people between 
the Meuse and the Rhine, near the modern Tongres, destroyed 
the detachment under the command of T. Titurius Sabinus 
and L. Aurunculeius Cotta. They next attacked the camp of 
Q. Cicero, the brother of the orator, who was stationed among 
the Nervii. Cicero repulsed the enemy in all their attempts, 
till a mounted messenger was able to steal through their 
lines and bring the news to Caesar. He rapidly approached 
with two legions to the aid of his beleaguered legate. The 
siege was raised ; Caesar defeated the forces of the enemy, 



278 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXIII. 

which amounted to 60,000 men, and the insurgents rapidly 
dispersed. 

Sixth Campaign, 53 B.C. — In the next year the Gauls again 
took up arms, and entered into a most formidable conspiracy to 

recover their independence. The destruction of 
b a^^ °^ " *'^® Koman troops under Sabinus and Cotta, and 

the unsettled state of Gaul during the winter, had 
led Caesar to apprehend a general rising of the natives ; and he 
had accordingly levied two new legions in Cisalpine Gaul, and 
obtained one from Pompey, who was remaining in the neigh- 
bourhood of Rome as proconsul with the imperium. Being thus 
at the head of a powerful armj-, he was able to subdue the tribes 
that revolted, and soon compelled the Nervii, Senones, Carnutes, 
Menapii, and Treviri to return to obedience. 

But as the Treviri had been supported by the Germans, he 
crossed the Rhine again a little above the spot where he had 

passed over two years before ; and after receiving 
Second pas- the submission of the Ubii, ravaged the country 
Rhiae**^^ of the Suevi. On his return to Gaul he laid 

waste the country of the Eburones with fire and 
sword. At the conclusion of the campaign he prosecuted a 
strict inquiry into the revolt of the Senones and Carnutes ; and 
caused Acco, who had been the chief ringleader in the con- 
spiracy, to be put to death. 

Seventh Campaign, 52 B.C. — The unsuccessful issue of last 
year's revolt had not yet damped the spirits of the Gauls. The 

execution of Acco had alarmed all the chiefs, as 
General insur- every one feared that his turn might come next ; 
Gaul**^ ^^ ^^ hatred of the Roman yoke was intense ; and 

thus all the materials were ready for a general 

conflagration. It was first kindled by the Carnutes, and in a 

short time it spread from district to district till almost the whole 

of Gaul was in flames. Even the Aedui, who had been hitherto 

the faithful allies of the Romans, and had assisted them in all 

their wars, subsequently joined the general revolt. 

At the head of the insurrection was Vercingetorix, a young 

man of noble family belonging to the Arverni, and by far the 

. . ablest general that Caesar had yet encountered. 

Vercmgetorix. ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ united: 

Caesar's conquests of the last six years seemed to be now 



Chap. XXXIII.] CAESAR'S CAMPAIGNS IN GAUL. 279 

entirely lost. The campaign of tliis year, therefore, was by far 
the most arduous that he had yet conducted ; but his genius 
triumphed over every obstacle, and rendered it the most brilliant 
of all. He concentrated his forces with incredible rapidity, and 
lost no time in attacking the chief towns in the hands of the 
enemy. Vellaunodunum (in the country of Chateau- Landon), 
Cenabum {Orleans), and Noviodunum {Nouan, between Orleans 
•and Bourges) fell into his hands without difficulty. Alarmed 
at his rapid progress, Vercingetorix persuaded his countrymen 
to lay waste their country and destroy their towns. This plan 
was accordingly carried into effect ; but, contrary to the wishes 
of Vercingetorix, Avaricum (Bourges), the chief town of the 
Bituriges, and a strongly fortified place, was spared from the 
general destruction. This town Caesar accordingly besieged; 
and, notwithstanding the heroic resistance of the Gauls, it was 
at length taken, and all the inhabitants, men, women, and 
children, were indiscriminately butchered. 

Caesar now divided his army into two parts : one division, 
consisting of four legions, he sent, under the command of T. 
Labienus, against the Senones and Parisii ; the other, comprising 
six legions, he led in person into the country of the Arverni, and 
with them laid siege to Gergovia (near Clermont). The revolt 
of the Aedui shortly afterwards compelled him to raise the siege, 
and inspired the Gauls with fresh courage. 

Vercingetorix retired to Alesia [Alise in Burgundy), which 
was considered impregnable, and resolved to wait for succours 
from his countrymen. Caesar immediately laid 
siege to the place, and drew lines of circumval- }^^^ 
lation around it. The Romans, however, were in 
their turn soon surrounded by a vast Gallic army which had 
assembled to raise the siege. Caesar's army was thus placed in 
imminent peril, and on no occasion in his whole life was his 
military genius so conspicuous. He was between two great 
armies. Vercingetorix had 80,000 infantry alone in Alesia, and 
the Galhc army without consisted of between 250,000 and 
300,000 men. Still he would not raise the siege. He pre- 
vented Vercingetorix from breaking through the lines, entirely 
routed the Gallic army without, and finally compelled Alesia to 
surrender. Vercingetorix himself fell into his hands. The fall 
of Alesia was followed by the submission of the Aedui and 



280 



HISTORY OF ROME, 



[Chap. XXXIII, 



Arverni. Caesar then led his troops into winter quarters. After 
receiving his despatches, the senate voted him a pubUc thanks- 
giving of twenty days, as in the year 55 B.C. 

Eighth Campaign, 51 B.C. — The victories of the preceding 
year had determined the fate of Gaul ; but many states still 
remained in arms, and entered into fresh con- 
titm^of'tt' ul"*" ^piracies during the winter. This year was oc- 
cupied in the reduction of these states, into the 
particulars of which we need not enter. During the winter 
Caesar employed himself in the pacification of Gaul; and, as he 
already saw that his presence would soon be necessary in Italy, 
he was anxious to remove all causes for future wars. "While 
fixing the tribute for each community, he treated the states 
with honour and respect, and even bestowed Roman citizenship 
upon some of their chiefs. The experience of the last two 
years had taught the Gauls that they had no hope of contending 
successfully against Caesar, and even in the great turmoil of the 
ensuing civil wars their loyalty to Rome i-eraained unshaken. 

So ended the nine years' war, which, though it appeiirs as a 
long series of aggressions on Caesar's part, was really waged 
in a defensive spirit. It gave the Roman Empire a northern 
frontier, and saved the civilized world from barbarian invasions 
for more than four hundred years. 




Outline view of the Maison Carree at Nimes. 




Coin of Cuesar. 



CHAPTEE XXXIV. 

INTERNAL HISTORY, FROM THE RETURN OF CICERO FROM BANISH- 
MENT TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CIVIL WAR. — EXPE- 
DITION AND DEATH OF CEaSSUS. 57-50 B.C. 

Cicero returned from banishment an altered man. Though his 
return had been glorious, he saw that his position was entirely 
changed, and he was forced to yield to a power 
which he no longer dared to resist. He even tv^ tiirimvirs 
lent his support to the triumvirs, and praised in 
public those proceedings which he had once openly and loudly 
condemned. Meantime the power of Pompey had been shaken 
at Rome. A misunderstanding had sprung up between him 
and Crassus ; and Cato and the other leaders of the aristocracy 
attacked him with the utmost vehemence. The senate began 
to entertain hopes of recovering their power. They determined 
to support L. Domitius Ahenobarbus, who, in 56 e.g., had 
become a candidate for the consulship for the following year, 
and who threatened to deprive Caesar of his provinces and 
armies. Even Cicero was encouraged to join in the attack, and 
to propose in the senate a reconsideration of Caesar's distribu- 
tion of the Campanian land. 

But these attacks only served to draw the triumvirs together. 
Caesar invited Pompey and Crassus to meet him at Luca {Lucca) 
in the spring of 56 B.C. ; and the conference was 
largely attended by the partisans of the coalition. ^ t vino 
It was arranged that Pompey and Crassus should 
be consuls for the next year, and obtain provinces and armies, 
while Caesar was to have his government prolonged for another 
five years, and to receive pay for his troops. On their return 



282 HISTORY OF EOME. [Chap. XXXIV. 

to Kome Pompey and Crassus became candidates for the consul- 
ship ; but the aristocratic opposition was so strong that it was 
found impossible to carry their election that year. By the help 
of the tribunician veto the consular comitia were prorogued, and 
the elections did not take place till the beginning of 55 B.C., 
under the presidency of an interrex. Even then Ahenobarbus 
and Cato did not rekx in their opposition ; and it was not till 
the armed bands of Pompey and Crassus had cleared the Campus 
Martius of their adversaries that they were declared consuls for 
the second time (55 b.c). 

They forthwith proceeded to carry into effect the compact 
that had been made at Luca. They induced the Tribune C. 
Second con- Trebonius to bring forward a bill which gave the 
sulship of province of the two Spains to Pompey, and that 

Pompey and of Syria to Crassus ; another law proposed by the 
Crassus. consuls prolonged Caesar's government for five 

years more, namely, from the 1st of March, 54 B.C., to the 1st of 
March, 49 B.C.* Pompey was again in command of the home 
government ; and at the expiration of his year of office would 
no longer be a private man, but with the command of an army 
and in possession of the imperium. He had, however, no 
intention of quitting Rome ; and after his year of office, while 
he sent an army into Spain under the command of his lieutenants, 
L. Afranius and M. Petreius, he himself remained in the neigh- 
bourhood of Rome as proconsul. During his consulship he 
opened the theatre he had just built with an exhibition of 
games of unparalleled splendour and magnificence. The build- 
ing itself was worthy of the conqueror of the East. It was 
the first stone theatre that had been erected at Rome, and was 
sufficiently large to accommodate 40,000 spectators. The games 
exhibited lasted many days. Five hundred African lions 
and eighteen elephants were killed ; and even the hardened 
Roman mob were satiated and disgusted with the wholesale 
slaughter. 

Before the end of the year, 54 B.C., Crassus set out for Syria, 
with the intention of attacking the Parthians. He burnt to 
share in the military distinction of Pompey and Caesar; and, 
though upwards of sixty years of age, chose to enter upon an 

• March 1st was the beginniug of the official year in the provinces, as January 
let was at Rorae. 



Chap, XXXIV.] DEFEAT AND DEATH OF CRASSUS. 283 

undertaking for which he had no genius rather than continue the 
pursuit of wealth and influence at home. He crossed the 
Euphrates in 54 B.C., but, hesitating to proceed 
at once against Parthia, he gave the enemy time to Defeat and 
assemble his forces, and returned to Syria without QpaggT,g 
accomplishing anything ot importance. He spent 
the winter in Syria, where, instead of exercising his troops and 
preparing for the ensuing campaign, he plundered the temples, 
and employed his time in collecting money from every quarter. 
In the following spring (53 B.C.) he again crossed the Euphrates, 
and with seven legions plunged into the sandy deserts of Meso- 
potamia. He trusted to the guidance of an Arabian chieftain, 
who promised to lead him by the shortest way to the enemy. 
But this man was in the pay of the " Surenas," as the Parthian 
general was entitled; and when he 'had brought the Romans 
into the open plains of Mesopotamia, he seized a frivolous 
pretext, and rode oft" to inform the Surenas that the Roman army 
was delivered into his hands. The Parthians soon appeared. 
They worried the densely marshalled Romans with showers of 
arrows ; and by feigned retreats, during which they continued 
their desultory attack, they led the Romans into disadvantageous 
positions. The son of Crassus, who had distinguished himself 
as one of Caesar's lieutenants in Gaul, was slain ; and the 
Romans, after suffering great loss, retreated to Carrhae, the 
Biblical Haran. On the following day they continued their 
retreat ; and the Parthian general, fearing that Crassus might 
after all make his escape, invited him to an interview. He was 
treacherously seized, and in the scuffle which ensued was slain 
by some unknown hand. His head was carried to the Parthian 
king Orodes, and exhibited to the court, while an actor chanted 
the words of Agave from the Bacchae of Euripides — 

"We bear a fresh-cut tendril from the mountains to the hall." * 
Twenty thousand Roman troops were slain, and ten thousand 
taken prisoners, in this expedition, one of the most disastrous in 
which the Romans were ever engaged. Only a small portion of 
the Roman army escaped to Syria under the command of L. 
Cassius Longinus, afterwards one of Caesar's assassins, who had 
displayed considerable ability during the war, but whose advice 
Crassus had constantly refused to follow. 
* I. nil. 



284 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXIV. 

The death of Crassus left Pompey and Caesar alone at the 

head of the state ; and it became evident that sooner or later a 

struggle would take place between them for the 

Estrangement supremacy. The death of Julia, in 54 B.C., to 

dc^^^^ whom both her father and husband were strongly 
attached, broke a link which might have united 
them much longer. Pompey considered that he had been the 
chief means of raising Caesar to power, and he appeared long 
to have deemed it impossible that the conqueror of Mithridates 
could be thrown into the shade by any popular leader. Such a 
residt, however, was now imminent. Caesar's brilliant victories 
in (laul were in everybody's mouth ; and Pompey saw with 
ill-disguised mortification that he was becoming the second 
person in the state. Though this did not lead him to break 
with Caesar at once, it made him anxious to increase his power 
and influence, and he therefore now resolved, if possible, to 
obtain the dictatorship. 

He accordingly used no effort to put an end to the disturbances 
at Rome between Milo and Clodius in this year, in hopes that 
all parties would be willing to accede to his wishes 
Milo an -j^ order to restore peace to the city. Milo was a 

candidate for the consulship and Clodius for the 
praetorship. Each was attended by a band of hired ruffians ; 
battles took place between them daily in the forum and the 
streets ; all order and government were at an end. In such a 
state of things no elections could be held ; and the confusion at 
length became downright anarchy, when Milo murdered Clodius 
on the 18th of January in the following year (b.c. 52). The 
two rivals had met on the Appian way near Bovillae, accom- 
panied, as usual, by their armed followers. A fray ensued. 
The party of Milo proved the stronger, and Clodius took refuge 
in a house. But Milo attacked the house, dragged out Clodius, 
and having despatched him, left him dead upon the road. His 
body was found by a senator, carried to Rome, and exposed to 
the eyes of the people. Their excitement at the death of their 
favourite was still further inflamed by the harangues of the 
tribunes. The benches and tables of the senate-house were 
seized to make a funeral pile ; and the senate-house with 
several other public buildings were reduced to ashes. As the 
riots still continued, the senate had no longer any choice but to 



Chap. XXXiV.] SOLE CONSULSHIP OF POMPEY. 285 

call in the assistaflce of Pompey. They therefore commissioned 
him to collect troops and put an end to the disturbances. 

Pompey, who had obtained the great object of his desires, 
obeyed with alacrity ; he was invested with the supreme power 
in the state by being elected sole consul at the 
close of the winter ; and in order to deliver the „q°'^i^ ^** ^ 
oity from Milo and his myrmidons, he brought 
forward laws against violence and bribery at elections. Milo 
was put upon his trial ; the court was surrounded with soldiers ; 
Cicero, who defended him, was intimidated, and Milo was con- 
demned, and went into exile at Massilia.* Others shared the 
same fate, and peace was once more restored. 

The fear of Caesar's possible designs now weighed heavily 
on the aristocratic party, and the approaches which they 
made to Pompey were met halfway. After 
Julia's death he had married Cornelia, the Measures _ 
daughter of Metellus Scipio, whom he made his paesar 
colleague on the 1st of August. His next step 
was to strike a blow at Caesar. He brought forward an old 
law that no one shoidd become a candidate for a public office 
while absent, in order that Caesar might be obliged to resign his 
command, and to place himself in the power of his enemies at 
Kome, if he wished to obtain the consulship a second time. 
But the renewal of this enactment was so manifestly aimed at 
Caesar that his friends insisted he should be specially exempted 
from it ; and, as Pompey was not yet prepared to break openly 
with him, he thought it more expedient to yield. At the same 
time, Pompey provided that he himself should remain in com- 
mand of an array after his rival had ceased to have one, by 
obtaining a senatus-consultum, by which his government of the 
Spains was prolonged for another five years. And, in case 
Caesar should obtain the consulship, he caused a law to be 
enacted, in virtue of which no one could have a province till 
five years had elapsed from the time of his holding a public 
office. For the next five years the senate was to fill up com- 
mands at the earliest date at which they were legally vacant.f 

* Cicero sent to Milo at Massilia the oration which he meant to have delivered, 
the one which we still have. Milo, after reading it, remarked, " I am glad it was 
not delivered, for I should then have been acquitted and never known the delicate 
flavour of these Massilian mullets." 

f Caesar's command technically e.xpired on March 1st. 49 ; hut, in accordance 
With the invariable custom, he claimed to continue it until January 1st, 48, when 
he would be succeeded by one of the consuls of 49. 



286 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXIV 

In the following year (51 B.C.) Pompey declared himself still 
more openly on the side of the senate ; but still he shrank from 
supporting all the violent measures of the Consul M. Claudius 
Marcellus, who proposed to send a successor to Caesar, on the 
plea that the war in Gaul was finished, and to deprive him of 
the privilege of becoming a candidate for the consulship in his 
absence. The consuls for the next year (50 B.C.), L. Aemilius 
PauUus and C. Claudius Marcellus, and the powerful tribune C. 
Curio, were all reckoned devoted partisans of Pompey and the 
senate. Caesar, however, gained over Paullus and Curio by 
large bribes, and with a lavish hand distributed immense sums 
of money among the leading men of Rome. It was proposed 
in the senate that Caesar should lay down his command on 
March 1st, 49 B.C. The consular elections were in July; and 
if Caesar came to Rome as a private man to sue for the consul- 
ship, there could be no doubt that his life or liberty would be 
sacrificed. Cato had declared that he would bring Caesar to trial 
for the illegalities committed during his consulship ; but the trial 
would have been only a mockery, for Pompey was in the neigh- 
bourhood of the city at the head of an army, and would have over- 
awed the judges by his soldiery as at Milo's trial. The tribune 
Curio consequently interposed his veto upon the proposal. The 
senate, anxious to diminish the number of his troops, had, under 
pretext of a war with the Parthians, ordered that Pompey and 
Caesar should each furnish a legion to be sent into the East. 
The legion which Pompey intended to devote to this service 
was the one which he had lent to Caesar in 53 B.C., and which 
he now accordingly demanded back ; and, although Caesar saw 
that he should thus be deprived of two legions, which would 
probably be employed against himself, he complied with the 
request. Upon their arrival in Italy, they were not sent to the 
East, but were ordered to pass the winter at Capua. Caesar 
took up his quarters at Ravenna, the town in his province which 
bordered closest upon Italy. 

Though war seemed inevitable, Caesar still showed himself 
Neffotiations "billing to enter into negotiations with the aris- 
between tocracy, and accordingly sent Curio with a letter 

Caesar and the addressed to the senate, in which he expressed his 
senate. readiness to resign his command if Pompey would 

do the same. Curio arrived at Rome on the 1st of January, 



CHAP. XXXIV.] CAESAR AND THE SENATE. 287 

49 B.C., the day on which the new consuls, L. Cornelius Lentulus 
and C. Claudius Marcellus, entered upon their office. It was 
with great difficulty that the tribunes, M. Antonius, afterwards 
the well-known triumvir, and Q. Cassius Longinus, forced the 
senate to allow the letter to be read. After a violent debate 
the motion of Scipio, Pompey's father-in-law, was carried, 
" that Caesar should disband his army by a certain day, and 
that if he did not do so he should be regarded as an enemy 
of the state." On the 6th of January the senate passed the 
decree investing the consuls with dictatorial power. Antonius 
and Cassius, considering their lives no longer safe, fled from the 
city in disguise to Caesar's army, and called upon him to protect 
the inviolable persons of the tribunes. 

This was the crisis. The senate intrusted the management 
of the war to Pompey, determined that fresh levies of troops 
should be held, and voted him a sum of money 
from the public treasury. Both the senate and J^^P^^^ ^°^8 
Pompey seem to have relied on an imagined dis- 
affection amongst Caesar's troops, and grossly miscalculated 
their own military resources. It is true that Pompey com- 
manded legions in Spain through his legates, and his personal 
influence could secure him almost unbounded resources in the 
East ; but these would be of no avail against a direct attack 
from Gaul. He had boasted that he had only to stamp his foot, 
and armed men would spring from the soil of Italy ; but, when 
the critical moment came, almost his only serviceable troops 
were the two legions taken from Caesar, and therefore of 
doubtful fidelity, and Italy was left defenceless. 




CHAPTER XXXV. 

FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR TO CAESAR's 
DEATH, 49-44 B.C. 



As soon as Caesar learnt at Ravenna the last resolution of the 
senate, he assembled his soldiers, informed them of the wrongs 

he had sustained, and called upon them to support 
Caesar |-,jf^-^^ Finding them quite willing to follow him, 

a vances ^^^ crossed the Rubicon,* which separated his 

through Italy. . ' • j a • • 

provmce irom Italy, and occupied Arimmum. 

He commenced his march with only one legion, consisting of 

* The crossing of tliis Rtream was in reality a declaration of war against the 
Republic, :ind later writers relate that upon arriving at the Rubicon Caesar long 
hesitated whether he should take this Irrevocable step, and that, after pondering 
many hours, he at length exclaimed, "The die is cast," and plunged into the 
river. But there is not a word of this in Caesar's own narrative. 



Chap. XXXV.] CAESAR'S CONQUEST OP ITALY. 289 

5000 foot-soldiers and 300 horse, but others had orders to 
follow him from Transalpine Gaul, and he knew the importance 
of speed that might anticipate the enemy's plans, and of successes 
at the outset that might turn the hearts of waverers. Though 
it was the middle of winter, he pushed on with the utmost 
rapidity, and such was the popularity of his cause, or the 
defencelessness of Italy, that city after city opened its gates to 
him, and his march was like a triumphal progress. Ancona, 
Arretium, Iguvium, and Auximum fell into his hands. These 
successes caused the utmost consternation at Eome ; it was 
i-eported that Caesar's cavalry were already at the gates ; a 
general panic seized the senate, and they fled from the city 
without even taking with them the money from the public 
treasury. Caesar continued his victorious march through 
Picenura till he came to Corfinium, which L. Domitius Aheno- 
harbus held with a strong force ; but, as Pompey did not march 
to Ills assistance, Domitius was unable to maintain the place, 
and fell himself into Caesar's hands, together with several other 
senators and distinguished men. Caesar, with the same 
clemency which he displaj^ed throughout the whole of the Civil 
War, dismissed them all iminjured. He then hastened south- 
ward in pursuit of Pompey, who had now resolved to abandon 
Italy. He reached Brundusium before Caesar, but had not 
sailed when the latter arrived before the town. 

Caesar straightway laid siege to the place, but Pompey skil- 
fully evacuated it on the 17th of March, and embarked for 
Greece. Caesar was unable to follow him for 
want of ships. He accordingly marched back Po^P^J 
from Brundusium, and repaired to Rome, having /j-gg-g 
thus in three months become the master of the 
whole of Italy. 

Caesar was now in possession of the capital and of the 
machinery of government, and the onlv opposition which he met 
with in Rome was from L. Metellus the tribune, 
who attempted to prevent him from entering the -^^IJ^ 
" more sacred treasury," which contained the 
reserve destined for defence against a Gallic invasion — a resist- 
ance which drew from the professed champion of the tribunate 
the caustic remark : " War is no time for words ; when I have 
laid down my arms, I shall listen to your arguments." After 

u 



290 HlSTORr OP HOME. [Chap. XXXV. 

remaining in the neighbonrhood of Rome for a short time, he set 
out for Spain, leaving M. Lepidus in charge of the city and M. 
Antonius in command of the troops in Italy. -Pompey had 
threatened to starve Italy into surrender; hence it was all- 
important to get possession of the corn-supplying provinces. 
Caesar, therefore, sent Curio to drive Cato out of Sicily, and 
Q. Valerius to take possession of Sardinia. Curio and Valerius 
obtained possession of their respective islands without opposition.; 
and the former then passed over into Africa, which was in 
possession of the Porapeian party. Here, however, he encountered 
strong opposition, and at length was defeated, and lost his life, in 
a battle with Juba, king of Mauretania, who supported P. Atius 
Varus, the Pompeian commander. But this disaster was more 
than counterbalanced by Caesar's victories in the mean time in 
Spain. 

Leaving Rome about the middle of April, he found, on his 

arrival in Gaul, that Massilia refused to submit to him. He 

besieged the place forthwith, but, unable to take 

Caesar con- -^ immediately, he left C. Trebonius and D. 
Quers spam. "^ 

Brutus with part of his troops to prosecute the 

siege, and continued his march to Spain. On the approach of 
Caesar, L. Afranius and M. Petreius, the lieutenants of Pompey 
in Spain, united their fo'rces, and took up a strong position near 
the town of Ilerda {Lerkhx in Catalonia), on the right bank of 
the Sicoris {Segre). After experiencing great difficulty at first 
and some reverses, Caesar at length reduced Afranius and 
Petreius to such straits that they were obliged to surrender. Thfey 
themselves were dismissed uninjured, part of their troops dis- 
banded, and the remainder incorporated among Caesar's forces. 
The conqueror then proceeded to march against Varro, who 
commanded two legions in the Further Province ; but, after the 
victory over Afranius and Petreius, there was no army in Spain 
capable of offering resistance, and Varro accordingly surrendered 
to Caesar on his arrival at Corduba {Cordova). Having thus 
subdued all Spain in forty days, he returned to Gaul. Massilia 
had not yet yielded ; but the siege had been prosecuted with so 
much vigour, that the inhabitants were compelled to surrender 
the town soon after he appeared before the walls. 

During his absence in Spain Caesar was appointed dictator 
by the praetor M. Lepidus, who had been empowered to do so 



Chap. XXXV.] CAESAR CROSSES TO EPIRUS. 291 

by a law passed for the purpose. On his return to Eome, 
Caesar assumed the new dignity, but laid it down again at the 
end of eleven days, after holding the consular 
comitia, in which he himself and P. Servilius Vatia ^iifj-^or " 
were elected consuls for the next year. But during 
these eleven days he caused some very important laws to be 
passed. The first was intended to relieve debtors, but at the 
same time to protect to a great extent the rights of creditors. 
He next restored the exiles banished under the exceptional 
legislation of 52 B.C., and removed the disabilities imposed by 
Sulla on the children of the proscribed ; finally he conferred the 
full citizenship upon the Transpadani, who had hitherto held 
only the Latin franchise, and thus made Italy Eoman up to 
the Alps. 

After laying down the dictatorship Caesar went in December 
to Brundusium, where he had previously ordered his troops to 
assemble. He had lost many men in the long „ 
march from Spain, and also from sickness arising j-ni-^g 
from their passing the autumn in the south of 
Italy. Pompey during the summer had raised a large force in 
Greece, Egypt, and the East, the scene of his former glory. 
He had collected an army consisting of nine legions of Roman 
citizens, and an auxiliary force of cavalry and infantry ; and his 
forces far surpassed in number those which Caesar had assembled 
at Brundusium. Moreover Pompey's fleet, under the command 
of Bibulus, Caesar's colleague in his first consulship, completely 
commanded the sea. Still Caesar ventured to set sail from Brun- 
dusium on the 4th of January, and he arrived the next day in 
safety on the coast of Epirus. In consequence, however, of the 
small number of his ships, he was able to carry over only seven 
legions, which had been so thinned as to amount only to 15,000 
foot and 500 horse. After landing this force he sent back his 
ships to bring over the remainder ; but part of the fleet was 
intercepted in its return by M. Bibulus, who kept up such a 
strict watch along the coast that the rest of Caesar's army was 
obliged for the present to remain at Brundusium. Caesar was 
thus in a critical position, in the midst of the enemy's country, 
and cut off from the rest of his army ; but he knew that he 
could thoroughly rely on his men, and therefore immediately 
commenced acting on the offensive. After gaining possession 



292 HISTORy OF ROME. [Chap. XXXV. 

of Oricum and Apollonia, he hastened northwards, in hopes of 
surprising Dyrrhachium, where all Pompey's stores were de- 
posited ; but Pompey, by rapid marches, reached this town 
before him, and both armies then encamped opposite to each 
other, Pompey on the right, and Caesar on the left hank of the 
river Apsus. Caesar was now greatly in want of reinforcements, 
and such was his impatience that he attempted to sail across the 
Adriatic in a small boat. The waves ran so high that the 
sailors wanted to turn back, till Caesar discovered himself, telhng 
them that they carried Caesar and his fortunes. They then 
toiled on, but the storm at length compelled them to return, and 
with difficulty they reached again the coast of Greece. Shortly 
afterwards M. Antonius succeeded in bringing over the remainder 
of the army. 

Pompey meantime had retired to some high ground near 
Dyrrhachium, and, as he would not venture a battle with 
Caesar's veterans, Caesar, in spite of the inferiority 
Campaign ^f j^jg ^^j^ forces, began to blockade him in his 

Dyrrhachium position, and to draw lines of circumvallation of 
an extraordinarj' extent. It was an error of 
judgment ; Pompey forced a passage through Caesar's lines 
before they were completed, and drove back his legions with 
considerable loss. Caesar thus found himself compelled to 
retreat from his present position, and commenced a march on 
Thessaly. Pompey's policy of avoiding a general engagement 
with Caesar's veterans till he could place more reliance upon his 
own troops was undoubtedly a wise one, and had been hitherto 
crowned with success ; but his hand was forced by the ignorance 
and impatience of his aristocratic supporters. 

Stung by the reproaches with which they assailed him, and 
elated in some degree by his victory at Dyrrhachium, he re- 
solved to bring the contest to an issue. Accord- 
Phawalus ^"^'^ ^^ offered battle to Caesar in the plain of 

Pharsalus, or Pharsalia, in Thessaly. The num- 
bers on either side were very unequal : Pompey had 47,000 foot- 
soldiers and 7000 horse, Caesar 22,000 foot-soldiers and 1000 
horse. The battle, which was fought on the 9th of August, 
48 B.C., according to the old calendar,* ended in the total defeat 
of Pompey's army. 

* In reality, on the 6th of June. 



Chap. XXXV.] FLIGHT AND DEATH OP POMPET. 293 

The Eepublic was not yet lost, but Pompey's hopes were at 
an end. He made no attempt to rally his forces, though he 
might still have collected a considerable army; 
but, regarding everything as lost, he hurried to p ^ ° . 
the sea-coast with a few friends. He embarked 
on board a merchant-ship at the mouth of the river Peneus, and 
first sailed to Lesbos, where he took on board his wife Cornelia, 
and from thence made for Cyprus. He now determined to seek 
refuge in Egypt, as he had been the means of restoring to his 
kingdom Ptolemy Auletes, the father of the young Egyptian 
monarch. On his death in 51 B.C. Ptolemy Auletes had left 
directions that' his son should reign jointly with his elder sister 
Cleopatra. But their joint reign did not last long, for Ptolemy, 
or rather Pothinus and Achillas, his chief advisers, expelled 
his sister from the throne. Cleopatra collected a force in Syria, 
with which she invaded Egypt. The generals of Ptolemy were 
encamped opposite her, near Alexandria, when Pompey arrived 
off the coast and craved the protection of the young king. This 
request threw Pothinus and Achillas into great difficulty, for 
there were many of Pompey's old soldiers in the Egyptian army, 
and they feared he would become master of Egypt. They 
therefore determined to put him to death. Accordingly they 
sent out a small boat, took Pompey on board with three or 
four attendants, and rowed for the shore. His wife and friends 
watched him from the ship, anxious to see in what manner he 
would be received by the king, who was standing on the edge 
of the sea with his troops. Just as the boat reached the shore, 
and Pompey was in the act of rising from his seat, in order to 
step on land, he was stabbed in the back by Septimius, wh© 
had formerlj^ been one of his centurions. 

Achillas and the rest then drew their swords; whereupon 
Pompey, withont uttering a word, covered his face with his 
toga, and calmly submitted to his fate. He had „. , , 
just completed his 58th year. His head was cut 
off", and his body. Avhich was cast upon the shore, was buried 
by his freedman Philippus, who had accompanied him from the 
ship. The head was brought to Caesar when he arrived in 
Egypt soon afterwards, but he turned away from the sight, shed 
tears at the untimely end of his rival, and put his murderers to 
death. 



294 HlSrORy OP ROME. [Chap. XXXV. 

When news of the battle of Pharsalus reached Rome, various 
laws were passed which conferred supreme power upon Caesar. 
Though absent, he was nominated dictator a second time, and 
for a whole year. He appointed M. Antonius his master of the 
horse, and entered upon the office in September of this year 
(48 B.C.). He was also nominated to the consulship for the 
next five years, though he did not avail himself of this privilege ; 
and he was invested with the tribunician power for life. 

Caesar had followed closely in pursuit of Pompey, and upon 
his arrival in Egypt he became involved in a war, which 
detained him several months, and gave the re- 
■m-oj. mains of the Pompeian party time to rally and 

to make fresh preparations for continuing the 
struggle. The war in Egypt, usually called the Alexandrine 
War, arose from Caesar's resolving to settle the disputes re- 
specting the succession to the kingdom. He determined that 
Cleopatra, whose fascinations completely won his heart, and 
her brother Piolemy should reign in common, according to the 
provisions of their father's will ; but as this decision was opposed 
by the guardians of the young king, a war broke out between 
them and Caesar, in which he was for some time exposed to 
great danger on account of the small number of his troops. 
But, having received reinforcements, he finally prevailed, and 
placed Cleopatra and her younger brother on the throne, the 
elder having perished in the course of the contest. 

After bringing the Alexandrine War to a close, towards the 
end of March, 47 B.C., Caesar marched through Syria into 
_ . . . .„ . Pontus in order to attack Pharnaces, the son of 
the celebrated Mithridates, who had defeated Ca, 
Domitius Calvinus, one of Caesar's lieutenants. This war, 
however, did not detain him long ; for Pharnaces, venturing to 
come to an open battle with the dictator, was utterly defeated, 
on the 2nd of August, near Zela. It was in reference to this 
victory that Caesar sent the celebrated laconic despatch to the 
senate, Veni, vidi, vici, " I came, I saw, I conquered." He 
then proceeded to Rome, caused himself to be appointed 
dictator for the remainder of the year, and nominated M. 
Aemilius Lepidus his master of the horse. At the same time 
he quelled a formidable mutiny of his troops which had broken 
out in Campania. 



Chap. XXXV.] BATTLE OF THAPSUS. 295 

Caesar did not remain in Rome more than two or three 
months. "With his usual activity and energy he set out for 
Africa before the end of the year (47 B.C.), in _, . ... 
order to carry on the war against Scipio and 
Cato, who had collected a large army in that country. Their 
forces were far greater than those which Caesar could bring 
against them ; but he had too much reliance on his own genius 
to be alarmed by mere disparity of numbers. 

At first he was in considerable difficulties ; but, having been 
joined by some of his other legions, he was able to prosecute 
the campaign with more vigour, and finally 
brought it to a close by the battle of Thapsus, frvoug^ g 
on the 6th of April, 46 B.C., in which the Pom- 
peian army was completely defeated. 

All Africa now submitted to Caesar, with the exception of 
Utica, which Cato commanded. The inhabitants saw that re- 
sistance was hopeless ; and Cato, who was a sincere Republican, 
resolved to die rather than submit to Caesar's despotism. 
After spending the greater part of the night in perusing 
Plato's Phaedo, a dialogue on the immortality of the soul, he 
stabbed himself. His friends, hearing him fall, _ ^•l j. « ^ 
ran up, found him bathed in blood, and, while 
he was fainting, dressed his wounds. When, however, he re- 
covered consciousness, he tore open the bandages, and so died. 

Caesar returned to Rome by the end of July. Great appre- 
hensions were entertained by his enemies, lest, notwithstanding 
his former clemency, he should imitate Marius and Sulla, and 
proscribe all his opponents. But these fears were perfectly 
groundless. A love of cruelty was no part of Caesar's nature ; 
and, with a magnanimity which victors rarely show, and least 
of all those in civil wars, he freely forgave all who had borne 
arms against him, and declared that he should make no 
difference between Porapeians and Caesarians. His object 
was now to allay animosities, and to secure the lives and 
property of all the citizens of his empire. 

As soon as the news of his African victory reached Rome, a 
public thanksgiving of forty days was decreed in his 
honour ; the dictatorship was bestowed upon him . caesar 
for ten years ; and the censorship, under the new 
title of " Praefectus Morum," for three years. Caesar bad never 



296 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXV. 

yet enjoyed a triumph ; and, as he had now no further enemies 
to meet, he availed himself of the opportunity of celebrating 
his victories in Gaul, Egypt, Pontus, and Africa, by four magni- 
ficent triumphs. None of these, however, were in honour of 
his successes in the civil war, although, in the African triumph 
which celebrated his victory over Juba, the deaths of Scipio 
and Cato were depicted. These triumphs were followed by 
largesses of corn and money to the people and the soldiers, by 
public banquets, and all sorts of entertainments. 

Caesar now proceeded to correct the various evils which had 
crept into the state, and to obtain the enactment of several laws 

suitable to the altered condition of the common- 
teiotm^ wealth. He attempted, by severe sumptuary 

laws, to restrain the extravagance which per- 
vaded all classes of society. But the most important of his 
changes this year (46 B.C.) was the reformation of the calendar, 
which was a real benefit to his country and the civilized world, 
and which he accomplished in his character of Pontifex Maxi- 
mus. The old Roman year had only 355 days, and the regula- 
tion of the Roman calendar had always been entrusted to the 
college of pontiffs ; they had been accustomed to insert inter- 
calary months at their pleasure for political purposes, and the 
confusion had at length become so great that the Roman year 
was three months behind the real time. To remedy this 
serious evil, Caesar added 90 days to the current year, and thus 
made it consist of 445 days ; and he guarded against a repetition 
of similar errors for the future by creating a year of 365 days 
6 hours, and thus adapting the calendar to the sun's course. 

The Pompeians were now preparing to make their last stand 

in Spain, where a formidable army had been collected under the 

. . command of Pompey's sons, Cneius and Sextus. 

Caesar left Rome at the end of 46 b c, and with 
his usual activity arrived at Obulco near Corduba in 27 days. 

He found the enemy able to offer stronger opposition than he 
had anticipated ; but he brought the war to a close by the battle 

of Muiida, on the 17th of March, 45 B.C. It was 
Battle of g^ hard-fought battle : Caesar's troops were at 

first driven back, and were only rallied by their 
general's exposing his own person, like a common soWier, 
m the front line of the battle; but at last victory declared 



Chap. XXXV.] CAESAR'S RULE. 297 

for the dictator. Cn. Pompeius was killed shortly afterwards, 
but Sextus made good his escape. The settlement of the affairs 
in Spain detained Caesar in the province some months longer, 
and he consequently did not reach Rome till September. 

At the beginning of October he entered the city in triumph 
on account of his victories in Spain, although the victory had 
been gained over Roman citizens. The senate 
received him with the most servile flattery. They New honours 
had in his absence voted a public thanksgiving of Caesar 
fifty days, and they now vied with each other in 
paying him every kind of adulation and homage. He was to 
wear, on all public occasions, the triumphal robe ; he was to 
receive the title of " Father of his Country ; " his statue was to be 
placed amongst those of the seven kings in the Capitol ; his 
portrait was to be struck on coins ; the month of Quintilis was 
to receive the name of Julius in his honour, and he was to be 
raised to a rank among the gods. But there were still more 
important decrees than these, which were intended to legalize 
his power, and confer upon him the whole government of the 
Roman world. He received the title of Imperator for life ; he 
was nominated consul for the next ten years, and dictator for 
life ; his person was declared sacred ; a guard of senators and 
knights was offered for his protection; and the whole senate 
took an oath to watch over his safety. 

If we now look at the way in which Caesar exerted his 
sovereign power, it cannot be denied that he used it in the main 
for the good of his country. He still pursued his _ , , 
former merciful course : no proscriptions or exe- 
cutions took place ; and he took the first steps in a projected 
reform of the constitution which he did not live to carry out. 
He raised the senate to 900 members by the introduction of 
Gauls and Spaniards, on whom he had conferred the franchise, 
and Romans of the lowest class ; there was a corresponding 
increase in the magistrates, the quaestors being raised to 40 and 
the praetors to 16. By swamping the senate Caesar was break- 
ing the spirit of the republic and preparing the way for the 
monarchy, in which this body, now including representatives 
from the provinces, was to be only a council of advisers. A 
more distinctly res:al act was his creation of new patrician 
families : for the patriciate had never been increased since the 



298 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXV. 

downfall of the monarchy at Rome. It was now whispered that 
Caesar, a king in fact, meant also to be a king in name. The 
popular sentiment was tested when in the next year (44 B.C.) 
the consul Antonius ofiiered him the diadem, the symbol of 
Oriental royalty, at the festival of the Lupercalia. It was 
declined; and the shouts of the people showed that, though 
they could submit to the reality of monarchy, they could not 
endure the name. 

Caesar's mental activity at this time was prodigious. One of 
its products was a comprehensive municipal law, by which 
uniform regulations were made for the towns possessing Roman 
citizenship in Italy and in the provinces. He also planned a 
codification of the existing Roman law, and material improve- 
ments, such as the draining of the Pomptine marshes and the 
enlargement of the harbour of Ostia. Amongst his immediate 
cares was the protection of the frontiers of the empire ; he 
planned expeditions against the Parthians and the barbarous 
tribes on the Danube, and had already begun to make prepara- 
tions for his departure to the East. In the midst of these vast 
projects he entered upon the last year of his life (44 B.C.), and 
his fifth consulship and dictatorship, with M. Antonius as his 
colleague in the consulship and M. Lepidus as his master of the 
horse. 

A conspiracy against Caesar's life had been formed as early 
as the beginning of the year. It had been set on foot by a 

personal enemy, C. Cassius Longinus, and more 
Tne con- ^-^^^ sixty persons were privy to it. Private 

hatred alone seems to have been the motive of 
Cassius, and probably of several others. Many of them had 
taken an active part on the Pompeian side, and had not only 
been forgiven by Caesar, but raised to offices of rank and 
honour. Among others was M. Junius Brutus, whom he had 
pardoned after the battle of Pharsalus, and had since treated 
almost as his son. In this very year Caesar had made him praetor, 
and held out to him the prospect of the consulship. Brutus, 
like Cato, seems to have been a sincere Republican, and Cassius 
persuaded him to join the conspiracy, and imitate his great 
ancestor who freed them from the Tarquins. It was now 
arranged to assassinate the dictator in the senate-house on the 
Ides or 15th of March. Rumours of the plot got abroad, and 



Chap. XXXV.] MURDER OF CAESAR. 299 

Caesar was strongly urged not to attend the senate. But he 
disregarded the warnings which were given him. 

As he entered, the senate rose to do him honour ; and when 
he had taken his seat, the conspirators pressed around him as if 
to support the prayer of one TilUus Cimber, who 
entreated the dictator to recall his brother from /i„g.-_ 
banishment. When Caesar began to show dis- 
pleasure at their importunity, Tillius seized him by his toga, 
which was the signal for attack. Casca, one of the tribunes of 
the Plebs, struck the first blow, and the other conspirators bared 
their weapons. Caesar defended himself till he saw Brutus had 
drawn his sword, and then, exclaiming, "And thou, too, 
Brutus ! " he drew his toga over his head, and fell pierced with 
three and twenty wounds at the foot of Pompey's statue. 

Caesar's death was undoubtedly a loss not only for the Roman 
people, but the whole civilized world. The Republic was utterly 
lost. The Roman world was now fated to go through many 
years of disorder and bloodshed, till it rested again under the 
supremacy of Augustus. The last days of the Republic had 
come, and its only hope of peace and security was under the 
strong hand of military power. 

Caesar was in his 56th year at the time of his death. Sculp- 
tures and coins still preserve his noble and commanding 
presence. They show a clear-cut face, worn with thought and 
toil, but serene and benign ; and we are told that he was tall in 
stature, and that his dark eyes were full of expression. His 
constitution was originally delicate, and he was twice attacked 
by epilepsy while transacting public business ; but, by constant 
exercise and abstemious living, he had acquired strong and 
vigorous health, and could endure almost any amount of 
exertion. He took great pains with his person, was considered 
to be effeminate in his dress, and in his later years strove to 
conceal his increasing baldness with the golden laurel crown. 

Caesar was probably the greatest man of antiquity. He was at 
one and the same time a general, a statesman, a lawgiver, a jurist, 
an orator, and an historian; his idler moments 
were devoted to philology and the general culture noesar 
of the day, while, like most Roman nobles of the 
time, he dabbled in poetry. He was a perfect example of the 
Eomau genius for practical life, combining great conceptions 



300 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



[Chap. XXXV. 



with an extraordinary command of detail. As a general he 
possessed some of the rarest military gifts : a mastery over men, 
a capacity for setting routine at defiance and adapting means to 
ends at the shortest notice, and an unequalled power of rapidity 
of movement. To estimate his military genius, one has only to 
remember that till his 40th year, when he went as propraetor 
into Spain, he had been almost entirely engaged in civil life, and 
his experience of war must have been of the most limited kind. 
Most of the greatest generals in the history of the world have 
been distinguished at an early age : Alexander the Great, 
Hannibal, Frederick of Prussia, and Napoleon Bormparte, gained 
some of their most brilliant victories under the age of 30 ; but 
Caesar from the age of 23 to 40 had seen nothing of war, which 
he took up as a subordinate instrument to be used in his task of 
reforming the Roman world. 




statue of a Roman, representing the Toga (from the Louvre). 




AT THE DEATH OF OESAR 

^ Roman Territory &' Provinces 

r ] Protected States 

Soman MiXe^ 



Harper & Brol 




ork & London. 



JolmB3itkolom.e^(r& Co.Xaiu 




M. Autonius. 



CHAPTER XXXVl. 



FKOM THE DEATH OF CAESAR TO THE BATTLE OF PHILIPPI. 
44-42 B.C. 

When the bloody deed had been finished, Brutus and his fellow- 
liberators rushed into the forum, proclaiming that they had 
killed the tyrant, and calling the people to join compromise 
them. But they met with no response, and, finding agreed on; 
alone averted looks, they retired to the Capitol, amnesty to 
Here they were joined by Cicero, who had not Caesar s 
been privy to the conspiracy, but was now one of ^^^ ^^^' ' 
the first to justify the murder. Meantime the friends of Caesar 
were not idle. Lepidus, the master of the horse, who was in 
the neighbourhood of the city, marched into the forum in the 
night ; and Antony hastened to the house of the dictator, and 



302 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXVI. 

took possession of his papers and treasures. But both parties 
feared to come to blows. A compromise was agreed to ; and 
at a meeting of the senate it was determined that Caesar's 
murderers should not be punished, but on the other hand that 
all his regulations should remain in force, that the provisions of 
his will should be carried into effect, and that he should be 
honoured with a public funeral. The conspirators then descended 
from the Capitol ; and, as a proof of reconciliation, Cassius supped 
with Antony and Brutus with Lepidus. 

This reconciliation was only a pretence. Antony aspired to 
succeed to the power of the dictator ; and to rouse the popular 
fury against the conspirators Caesar's will was 
Antony rouses immediately made public. He left as his heir his 
great-nephew Octavins, a youth of eighteen, the 
son of Atia, the daughter of his sister Julia. He bequeathed 
considerable legacies to his murderers. He gave his magnificent 
gardens beyond the Tiber to the public, and to every Roman 
citizen he bequeathed the sum of 300 sesterces (rather less than 
£3 sterling). When this became known, a deep feeling of sorrow 
for the untimely fate of their benefactor seized the minds of the 
people. Their feelings were raised to the highest point two or 
three days afterwards, when the funeral took place. The body 
was to be burnt in the Campus Martins, but it was previously 
carried to the forum, where Antony, according to custom, pro- 
nounced the funeral oration over it. After relating the exploits 
of the great dictator, reciting his will, and describing his terrible 
death, he lifted up the blood-stained robe which Caesar had worn 
in the senate-house, and which had hitherto covered the corpse, 
and pointed out the numerous wounds which disfigured the body. 
At this sight a yell of indignation was raised, and the mob rushed 
in every direction to tear the murderers to pieces. The liberators 
fled for their lives from the city, and the poet Helvius Cinna, 
being mistaken for the praetor Cinna, one of the assassins, was 
torn in pieces before the mistake could be explained. 

Antony was now master of Rome. Being in possession of 
Caesar's papers, he was able to plead the au- 
Arrangement thority of the dictator for everything which he 
vinces pleased. The conspirators hastened to take pos- 

session of the provinces which Caesar had as- 
signed to them. D. Brutus repaired to Cisalpine Gaul, M. Brutus 



Chap XXXVt.] ARRIVAL OP OCTAVIAlJ. 30S 

to Macedonia, and Cassius to Syria. Antony now procured a 
new disposition of the provinces, which gave Cisalpine Gaul to 
himself, Macedonia to his brother C. Antonius, and Syria to 
Dolabella. 

Meantime a new actor appeared upon the stage. Octavius 
was at Apollonia, a town on the coast of Illyria, at the time of 
his uncle's death. Caesar had determined to take 
bis nephew with him in his expedition against the "•'''^'^^^'^ 
Parthians, and had accordingly sent him to Apol- uome. 
Ionia, where a camp had been formed, that he 
might pursue his military studies. The soldiers now offered to 
follow him to Italy and avenge their leader's death, but he did 
not yet venture to take this decisive step. He determined, 
however, to sail at once to Italy, accompanied by only a few 
friends. Upon arriving at Brimdusium he heard of the will of 
the dictator, and was saluted by the soldiers as Caesar. As the 
adopted heir of his uncle, his proper name was now C. Julius 
Caesar Octavianus, and by the last of these names we shall 
hencefortli call him. He now made up his mind to proceed to 
Rome arid claim his uncle's inheritance, in opposition to the 
advice of his mother, who dreaded this dangerous honour for 
her son. Upon arriving at Rome, he declared before the praetor 
in the usual manner that he accepted the inheritance, and he 
then promised the people to pay the money bequeathed to them. 
He even ventured to claim of Antony the treasures of his uncle; 
but, as the latter refused to give them up, he sold the other 
property, and even his own estates, to discharge all the legacies. 
Antony threw every obstacle in his way ; but the very name of 
Caesar worked wonders, and the liberality of the young man 
gained the hearts of the people. He had indeed a difficult part 
to play. He could not join the murderers of his uncle; and 
yet Antony, their greatest enemy, was also his most dangerous 
foe. In these difficult circumstances the youth displayed a 
prudence and a wisdom which baffled the most experienced 
politicians. "Without committing himself to any party, he pro- 
fessed a warm attachment to the senate. Cicero had once more 
taken an active part in public affairs ; and Octavian, with that 
dissimulation which he practised throughout his life, completely 
deceived the veteran orator. 

On the 2nd of September Cicero delivered in the senate the 



S04 mSTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXVI. 

first of his orations against Antony, which, in imitation of those 
of Demosthenes against PhiHp, are known by the name of the 
Philippics. Antony was absent at the time, but 
Cicero shortly afterwards attacked the orator in un- 

Autonv. measured terms. Cicero rephed in the Second 

PhiHppic, one of the most violent invectives ever 
written. It was not spoken, but was published soon after 
Antony had quitted Rome. 

Meantime the emissaries of Octavian had been sounding the 

disposition of the soldiers, and had already enlisted for him a 

. considerable number of troops in various parts of 

raSeVt^oops. ^^"^^^ ^"toi^y ^^^ ^^^^^ the power was slipping 
from imder his feet. Two of the legions which 
he had summoned from Epirus passed over to Octavian ; and, in 
order to keep the remainder under his standard, and to secure the 
north of Italy to his interests, Antony now proceeded to Cisalpine 
Gaul, which had been previously granted to him by the people. 
Upon entering the province towards the end of December, D. 
Brutus threw himself into Mutina {Modena), to which Antony 
laid siege. 

Soon after Antony's departure Cicero prevailed upon the 
senate to declare him a public enemy, and to intrust to the 
young Octavian the conduct of the war against 
War declared him. Cicero was now at the height of his glory. 
against jjjg activity was unceasing, and in the twelve re- 

maining " PhiHppics " he encouraged the senate 
and the people to prosecute the war with vigour. The two new 
consuls (43 b.c.) were A. Hirtius and C. Vibius Pansa, both of 
whom had been designated by the late dictator. As soon as 
they had entered upon their office, Hirtius, accompanied by 
Octavian, marched into Cisalpine Gaul, while Pansa remained 
in the city to levy troops. 

For some weeks no movement of importance took place in 
either army, but, when Pansa set out to join his colleague and 
Battles of Octavian, Antony marched southward, and on the 

Forum Gal- 15th of April attacked him at Forum Gallorum 
lorum and near Bononia (Bologna). A fierce battle ensued, 
Mutina. \^ which Pansa was mortally wounded ; success 

at first declared for Antony, but the timely arrival of the other 
consul, Hirtius, forced him to retire to his camp before Mutina, 



Chap. XXXVI.] THE SECOND TRIUMVIRATE. 305 

A few days afterwards a more decisive battle took place. 
Antony was defeated with great loss, and forced to raise the 
siege of Mutina ; but Hirtius fell in leading an assault on the 
besieger's camp. The death of the two consuls left Octavian 
the sole command ; and so timely was their removal that he was 
accused by many of causing their death. 

Antony, although he had found it impossible to continue the 
sisge of Mutina, retreated in good order northwards, crossed the 
Alps, and was well received in Further Gaul by Lepidus, who 
had promised him support. Meantime the good understanding 
between Octavian and the senate had come to an end. The 
latter, being resolved to prevent him from obtaining any further 
power, gave the command of the consular armies to D. Brutus ; 
and Cicero talked of removing the boy. 

But the " boy " soon showed the senate that he was their 
master. He gained the confidence of the soldiers, who gladly 
followed the heir of Caesar to Rome. Though 
only twenty years of age, he demanded of the „-!Ls^^^ 
senate the consulship. At first they attempted to 
evade his demand; but his soldiers were encamped in the 
Campus Martins, and in the month of August he was elected 
consul with his cousin Q. Pedius. The first act of his consul- 
ship showed that he had completely broken with the senate. 
His colleague proposed a law declaring all the murderers of 
Caesar to be outlaws. 

Octavian then quitted Rome to march professedly against 
Antony, leaving Pedius in charge of the city; but it soon 
appeared that he had come to an understanding 
with Antony, for he had hardly entered Etruria Ji^ijction with 
before the unwilling senate were compelled, upon iiepi^^fg, 
the proposal of Pedius, to repeal the sentence of 
outlawry against Antony and Lepidus. These two were now 
descending the Alps at the head of seventeen legions. Octavian 
was advancing northwards with a formidable army. Between 
two such forces the situation of D. Brutus was hopeless. He 
was deserted by his own troops, and fled to Aquileia, intending 
to cross over to Macedonia, but was put to death in the former 
place by order of Antony. 

Lepidus, who acted as mediator between Antony and Octavian, 
now arranged a meeting between them on a small island near 

X 



306 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXVI. 

Bononia, formed by the waters- of the river Ehenus, a tribu- 
tary of the Po. The interview took place near the end of 

November. It was arranged that the government 
triumvirate '^^ ^^^^ Roman world should be divided between 

the three for a period of five years, under the 
title of " Triumvirs for settling the affairs of the Republic." * 
Octavian received Sicily, Sardinia, and Africa ; Antony the two 
Gauls, with the exception of the Narbonese district, which, with 
Spain, was assigned to Lepidus. Octavian and Antony were to 
prosecute the war against M. Brutus and Cassius, who were in 
possession of the eastern provinces. Lepidus was to receive 
the consulship for the following year, with the charge of Italy. 

The triumvirs next proceeded to imitate the example of Sulla 
by drawing up a proscription — a list of persons whose lives were 
_ . . to be sacrificed and property confiscated. But 

they had not Sulla's excuse. He returned to 
Ital}'^ exasperated to the highest degree by the murder of his 
friends and the personal insults he had received. The triumvirs, 
out of a cold-blooded policj^, resolved to remove every one 
whose opposition they feared or whose property they coveted. 
In drawing up the fatal list they sacrificed, without scruple, 
their nearest relatives and friends. To please Antony, Octavian 
gave up Cicero ; Antony in return surrendered his own uncle, 
L. Caesar; and Lepidus sacrificed his own brother Paullus. 
As many as 300 senators and 2000 equites were entered in the 
lists. 

As soon as the triumvirs had made their secret arrangements 
they marched towards Rome. Hitherto they had published the 
names of only seventeen of the proscribed ; but the city was in 
a state of the utmost alarm, and it was with difficulty that Pedius 
could preserve the peace. So great was his anxiety and fatigue 
that he died the night before the entry of the triumvirs into the 
city. They marched into Rome at the head of their legions, 
and filled all the public places with their soldiery. No attempt 
at resistance was made. A law was proposed and carried con- 
ferring upon the triumvirs the title and powers they had assumed. 
The work of butchery then commenced. Lists after lists of 
the proscribed were published, each more numerous than the 
former. The soldiers hunted after the victims, cut off their 
* Triumviri Reipublicae constituendae. 



Chap. XXXVI.] DEATH OF CICERO. 307 

heads, and brought them to the authorities to prove their claims 
to the blood-money. Slaves were rewarded for betraying their 
masters, and whoever harboured any of the proscribed was 
punished with death. Terror reigned throughout Italy. No 
one knew whose turn would come next. 

Cicero was included in the first seventeen victims of the pro- 
scription. He was residing in his Tusculan villa with his 
brother Quintus, who urged him to escape to 
Brutus in Macedonia, They reached Astura, a Q^^arn ° 
small island off Antium, when Quintus ventured 
to Eome to obtain a supply of money, of which they were in 
need. Here he was apprehended, together with his son, and 
both were put to death. The orator again embarked, and 
coasted along to Formiae, where he landed at his villa, resolving 
no longer to fly from his fate. After he had spent a night in 
his own house, his attendants, hearing that the soldiers were 
close at hand, forced him to enter a litter, and hurried him 
through the woods towards the shore, distant a mile from his 
house. As they were passing onwards they were overtaken by 
their pursuers, and were preparing to defend their master with 
their lives, but Cicero commanded them to desist ; and, stretch- 
ing his head out of the litter, called upon his executioners to 
strike. They instantly cut off his head and hands, which were 
carried to Rome. Fulvia, the widow of Clodius and now the 
wife of Antony, gloated her eyes with the sight, and even thrust 
a hair-pin through his tongue. Antony ordered the head to be 
nailed to the Rostra, which had so often witnessed the triumphs 
of the orator. Thus died Cicero, in the sixty-fourth year of his 
age. He had not sufficient firmness of character to cope with 
the turbulent times in which his lot was cast ; but as a man he 
deserves our admiration and love. In the midst of almost 
universal corruption he remained uncontaminated. He was an 
affectionate father, a faithful friend, and a kind master. 

Many of the proscribed escaped from Italy, and took refuge 
with Sextus Pompeius in Sicily, and with Brutus and Cassius in 
the East. After the death of Caesar the senate 
had appointed Sextus to the command of the po'^nf;„ 
Republican fleet. He had become master of 
Sicily ; his fleet commanded the Mediterranean ; and Rome 
began to suffer from want of its usual supplies of corn. It 



308 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXVL 

was arranged that Octavian should attempt the conquest of j 

Sicily, while Antony was preparing for the campaign in the i 

East. A fleet under Salvidienus Rufus was sent against ^ 

Pompeius, but was worsted by the latter in the Straits of Sicily, ] 

in sight of Octavian. The war against Brutus and Cassius was i 

more urgent; and accordingly Octavian and Antony sailed i 

shortly afterwards to the East, leaving Pompeius undisputed ' 

master of the sea. i 

M. Brutus had gained secure possession of Macedonia. The i 

remains of the Pompeian legions, which had continued in Greece [ 

after the battle of Pharsalus, gathered round him ; 

Brutus and g^^^j q_ Antonius, whom his brother had sent over , 

East^^^ ^^ ^ **^ **^® ^^^ command of the province, was obliged , 

to become his prisoner. His colleague had been l 

Equally fortunate in Syria. Dolabella, to whom Antony had " 

given this province, was besieged in Laodicea by Cassius, and j 

put an end to his own life (43 B.C.). ! 

Brutus and Cassius were now masters of the Roman world j 

east of the Adriatic. It was evident that their enemies before | 

long would cross over into Greece ; but instead of concentrating j 

their forces ia that country, they began to plunder the cities of ; 

Asia Minor, in order to obtain money for their troops. Brutus "' 

pillaged Lycia, and Cassius Rhodes. The inhabitants of the I 

Lycian town of Xanthus refused to submit to the exactions of i 

Brutus, made an heroic defence when they were attacked, and ] 

preferred to perish in the flames of their city rather than to i 

yield. Brutus and Cassius were thus engaged when the news of 

the triumvirate and the proscription reached them ; but they c 

continued some time longer plundering in the East, and it was f 

not till the spring of 42 B.C. that the Republican chiefs at length I 

assembled their forces at Sardis, and prepared to march into I 

Europe. \ 

So much time, however, had now been lost, that Antony and \ 

Octavian had landed without opposition upon the ^ 

Arrival of ^^^^g^ ^f Greece, and had already commenced • 

Octavian, ^^^^^ march towards Macedonia before Brutus ; 

and Cassius had quitted Asia. ^ 

Brutus seems to have had dark forebodings of the approaching ] 

struggle. He continued his studious habits during the cam- ^ 

paign, and limited his hours of sleep. On the night before his \ 



Chap. XXXVl.] BATTLES AT PHILIPPl. 309 

army crossed over into Europe he was sitting in his tent, the 
lamp burning dim, and the whole camp in deep silence, when he 
saw a gigantic and terrible figure standing by him. He had the 
courage to ask, " Who art thou, and for what purpose dost thou 
come? " The phantom replied, " I am thy evil genius, Brutus ; 
we shall meet again at Philippi ! " and vanished. 

Brutus and Cassius now marched through Thrace and Mace- 
donia to Philippi, where they met the army of the triumvirs. 
The Republican leaders took up their positions 
on two heights distant a mile from each other, ■Dt■^^l^■^ 
Brutus pitchmg his camp on the northern, and 
Cassius on the southern near the sea. The camps, though 
separate, were enclosed within a common entrenchment, and 
midway between them was the pass which led like a gate from 
Europe to Asia. The enemy was on the lower ground in a less 
favourable position ; Octavian opposed Brutus and Antony 
Cassius. The numbers that met in this last struggle for the 
Republic were enormous, and nineteen legions were counted 
on either side. The triumvirs, whose troops began to suffer 
from want of provisions, now endeavoured to force the Republican 
leaders to an engagement. Cassius was unwilling to quit his 
strong position, and recommended that they should wait for their 
fleet ; but Brutus was anxious to put an end to this state of 
suspense, and persuaded the council to risk an immediate battle. 
Brutus himself defeated the army opposite to him, and pene- 
trated into the camp of Octavian, who was lying ill and unable to 
take part in the battle. His litter was seized, and brought forth 
covered with blood, and a report spread that he had been 
killed. 

Meantime, on the other side of the field, Cassius had been 
driven back by Antony. Retiring to a neighbouring hill with 
some of his men, he saw a large bodj'^ of cavalry 
approaching. Thinking that they belonged to the Death of 
enemy and that everything was lost, he ordered Bj^t^g, 
one of his freedmen to put an end to his life. In 
reality Brutus had sent the cavalry to obtain news of Cassius ; 
and when he heard of the death of his colleague he wept over 
him as " the last of the Romans," an eulogy which Cassius had 
done nothing to deserve. 

Twenty days after the first battle Brutus again led out his 



310 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



[Chap. XXX VI. 



forces; but this time he was completely defeated, and with 
difficulty escaped from the field. He withdrew into a wood, and 
in the night-time fell upon his sword, which Strato, who had 
been his teacher in rhetoric, held for him. Philippi was the 
last — perhaps the only — contest in which the existence of the 
Republic was the stake ; with Brutus it perished, and indeed it 
would have been strange had its salvation been due to him. 
He was doubtless a sincei'e believer, but he was a man of weak 
judgment, deficient in knowledge of mankind, and more fitted 
for a life of study than the command of armies and the govern- 
ment of men. 




Coin of Antony and Cleopatra. 




Coin of Augustus with head of M. Agrippa on the reverse. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

FROBI THE BATTLE OF PHILIPPI 10 THE BATTLE OF ACTITJM. 
41-30 B.C. 

After the battle the victors separated. Antonj'^ remained in 
the East to collect money for the soldiers. Octavian, who was 
in ill-health, returned to Italy to give the veterans 
the lands which had been promised them. ^^°^^ "^ *^® 
Anton}^ traversed Asia Minor, plundering the 
unfortunate inhabitants, who had already suffered so severely 
from the exactions of Brutus and Cassius. In the voluptuous 
cities of Asia he surrendered himself to every kind of sensual 
enjoyment. He entered Ephesus in the character of Bacchus, 
accompanied by a wild procession of women dressed like 
Bacchantes, and men and youths disguised as Satyrs and Fauns. 
At Tarsus in Cilicia, whither he had gone to prepare for the 
war against the Parthians, he was visited by Cleopatra, whom 
he had summoned to his presence to answer for .. „ 
her conduct in supplying Cassius with money and nJeoTjatra ° 
provisions. She was now in her twenty-eighth 
year, and in the full maturity of her charms. In her fifteenth 
year her beauty had made an impression on the heart of Antony, 
when he was at Alexandria with Gabinius ; and she now trusted 
to make him her willing slave. She sailed up the Cydnus to 
Tarsus in a magnificent vessel with purple sails propelled by 
silver oars to the sound of luxurious music. She herself reclined 
under an awning spangled with gold, attired as Venus and 
fanned by Cupids. The most beautiful of her female slaves 
held the rudder and the ropes. The perfumes burnt upon the 



312 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXVII. 

vessel filled the banks of the river with their fragrance. The 
inhabitants cried that Venus had come to revel with Bacchus. 
Antony accepted her invitation to sup on board her galley, and 
was completely subjugated. Her wit and vivacity surpassed 
even her beauty. He followed her to Alexandria, where he 
forgot everything in luxurious dalliance, and the charms of her 
society. 

Meantime important events had been taking place in Italy. 
Octavian found immense difficulties in satisfying the demands of 
the veterans. All Italy was thrown into con- 

Italy. 



c avian in fusion. Though he expelled thousands from their 



homes in Cisalpine Gaul, in order to give their 
farms to his soldiers, they still clamoured for more. Those who 
had obtained assignments of land seized upon the property of 
their neighbours, and those who had not were ready to rise in 
mutiny. The country people, who had been obliged to yield 
their property to the rude soldiery, filled Italy with their com- 
plaints, and flocked to Rome to implore in vain the protection of 
Octavian. Even if he had the wish, he had not the power to 
control his soldiers. 

Fulvia, the wife of Antony, who had remained behind in Italy, 
resolved to avail herself of these elements of confusion, and 

crush Octavian. She was a bold and ambitious 
Revolt of L. woman ; she saw that sooner or later the struL'gle 
P^^^Jg^ must come between her husband and Octavian ; 

and by precipitating the war she hoped to bring 
her hu•^band to Italy, and thus withdraw him from the influence 
of Cleopatra. L. Antonius, the brother of the triumvir, who 
was consul this year (41 b.c), entered into her views. They 
proclaimed themselves the patrons of the unfortunate Italians, 
and also promised to the discontented soldiery that the triumvir 
would recompense them with the spoils of Asia. By these 
means they soon saw themselves at the head of a considerable 
force, and even obtained possession of Rome. 

But Agrippa, the ablest general of Octavian, forced them to 
quit the city, and pressed them so hard that they were obliged 

to take refuge in Perusia {Perugia), one of the 
Siege 01 j^Qg^ powerful cities of Etruria. Here they were 

besieged during the winter, and suffered so dread- 
fully , from famine that they found themselves compelled to 



Chap. XXXVII.] PEACE OF BEUNDUSIUM. 313 

capitulate in the following spring. The lives of L. Antonius 
and Fulvia were spared, but the chief citizens of Perusia itself 
were put to death, and the town burnt to the ground. 

While Antony's friends were thus unfortunate in Italy, his 
own forces experienced a still greater disaster in the East. Q. 
Labienus, the son of Caesar's old lieutenant in Gaul, had been 
sent by Brutus and Cassius to seek aid from Orodes, the king of 
Parthia. He was in that country when the news arrived of the 
battle of Philippi, and had remained there up to the present 
time. 

The war in Italy, and Antony's indolence at Alexandria, held 

out a favourable opportunity for the invasion of the Eoman 

provinces. Orodes placed a large army under the 

command of Labienus and his own son Pacorus. f^^^"}^^ 
mi 1 ii T-i 1 i • ^rv T invasion of 

ihey crossed the iLiuphrates in 40 B.C., and car- gypja,. 

ried everything before them. Antony's troops 
were defeated; the two powerful cities of Antioch and Apamea 
were taken ; and the whole of Syria overrun by the Parthians. 
Pacorus penetrated as far south as Palestine, and Labienus 
invaded Cilicia. Such alarming news, both from Italy and the 
East, at length aroused Antony from his voluptuous dreams. 
Leaving his lieutenant Ventidius in Syria, to conduct the war 
against the Parthians, Antony sailed to Athens, where he met 
his brother and wife. He now formed an alliance with Sextus 
Pompeius, sailed to Italy, and laid siege to Brundusium. 

Another civil war seemed inevitable ; but the soldiers on both 
sides were eager for peace ; and mutual friends persuaded the 
chiefs to be reconciled, which was the more easily 
effected in consequence of the death of Fulvia at Brundusium 
Sicyon. A new division of the Eoman world was 
now made. Antony was to have all the eastern provinces, and 
Octavian the western, the town of Scodra in Illyricum forming 
the boundary between them. Italy was to belong to them in 
common. Lepidus was allowed to retain possession of Africa, 
which he had received after the battle of Philippi, but he had 
ceased to be of any political importance. It was agreed that 
Antony should carry on the war against the Parthians, and that 
Octavian should subdue Pompeius, whom Antony readily sacri- 
ficed. The consuls were to be selected alternately from the 
friends of each. To cement the alliance, Antony was to marry 



314 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXV^II. 

Octavia, the siater of Octavian and widow of C. Marcellus, one 
of the noblest women of her age. The two triumvirs then 
repaired to Kome to celebrate the marriage (close of 40 B.C.). 

Discontent, however, prevailed at Eo me. Sextus Pompeius, who 
had been excluded from the peace, still continued master of the 

sea, and intercepted the ships which supplied the 
Mfs^Bum '^^^^ ^'^^^ corn. The people were in want of 

bread, and became so exasperated that Octavian 
and Antony found it necessary to enter into negotiations with 
the enemy. An interview took place between the chiefs at Cape 
Misenum. It was agreed that Pompeius should receive Sicily, 
Sardinia, Corsica, and Achaia, and that he should send to Kome 
an immediate supply of corn. The chiefs then feasted one 
another, and Pompeius entertained Octavian and Antony on 
board his own galley. When the banquet was at its height, a 
Greek named Menas or Menodorus, one of Pompeius' captains, 
whispered to him, " Shall I cut off the anchors of the ship, and 
make you lord of the Koman world ? " To which his master 
made the well-known reply, " You ought to have done it without 
asking me." The two triumvirs, on their return to Rome, were 
received with shouts of applause. The civil wars seemed to 
have come to an end (39 B.C.). 

Antony, with Octavia, returned to the East, where he found 
that his legate Ventldius had gained the most brilliant success 
Viotories of ^^'®^ ^^^^ Parthians. This man was a native of 
Ventidius Picenum, and originally a mule- driver. He was 

over the taken prisoner in the Social War, and walked in 

Partliiaiis. chains in the triumphal procession of Pompeius 
Strabo. He was made tribune of the Plebs by Julius Caesar, 
and was raised to the consulship in 43 B.C. In the Parthian 
War he displayed military abilities of no ordinary kind. He first 
defeated Labienus, took him prisoner in Cilicia, and put him to 
death. He then entered Syria, and drove Pacorus beyond the 
Euphrates. In the following year (38 B.C.) the Parthians again 
entered Syria, but Ventidius gained a signal victory over them, 
and Pacorus himself fell in the battle. 

The treaty between Sextus Pompeius and the triumvirs did 
not last long. Antony refused to give up Achaia, and Pompeius 
therefore recommenced his piratical excursions. The^price of 
provisions at Eome immediately rose, and Octavian found it 



Chap. XXXVII.] WAR WITH SEXTUS POMPEIUS. 315 

necessary to commence war immediately ; but his fleet was twice 
defeated by Pompeius, and was at last completely destroyed by 
a storm (38 B.C.). This failm-e only proved the 
necessity of making still more extensive prepara- ^^^ witn 
tions to carry on the war with success. The power pomugiug 
of Octavian was insecure as long as Pompeius was 
master of the sea, and could deprive Eome of her supplies of 
corn. Nearly two years were spent in building a new fleet, and 
exercising the newly raised crews and rowers. The command 
of the fleet and the superintendence of all the necessary pre- 
parations for the war were entrusted to Agrippa. In order 
to obtain a perfectly secure and land-locked basin for his fleet, 
and thus secure it against any sudden surprise, he constructed 
the celebrated Portus Julius on the coast of Campania near 
Baiae, by connecting the inland Lake Avernus, by means of a 
canal, with the Lake Lucrinus, and by strengthening the latter 
lake against the sea by an artificial dyke or dam. While he 
was engaged in these great works, Antony sailed to Tarentum, 
in 37 B.C., with 300 ships. Maecenas hastened thither from 
Rome, and succeeded once more in concluding an amicable 
arrangement. He was accompanied on this occasion by Horace, 
who has immortalized, in a well-known satire, his journey from 
Rome to Brundusium. 

Octavian and Antony met between Tarentum and Meta- 
pontum ; the triumvirate was renewed for another period of 
five years ; Antony agreed to leave 120 ships to 
assist in the war against Pompeius ; and Octavian ^^^^^^1 oi 
promised to send a land-force to the East for the y^j-ate 
campaign against the Parthians. 

Octavian, now reheved of all anxiety on the part of Antony, 
urged on his preparations with redoubled vigour. By the 
summer of 36 b.c. he was ready to commence operations. He 
had three large fleets at his disposal : his own, stationed in the 
Julian harbour ; that of Antony, under the command of Statilius 
Taurus, in the harbour of Tarentum ; and that of Lepidus, off 
the coast of Africa. His plan was for all three fleets to set sail 
on the same day, and make a descent upon three different parts 
of Sicily; but a fearful storm marred this project. Lepidus 
alone reached the coast of Sicily, and landed at Lilybaeum ; 
Statilius Taurus was able to put back to Tarentum; but 



316 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXVII. 

Octavian, who was surprised by the storm off the Lucanian 
promontory of Pahnurus, lost a great number of his ships, and 
was obhged to remain in Italy to repair his shattered fleet. 

As soon as the ships had been refitted, Octavian again set sail 
for Sicily. Agrippa defeated Pompeius' fleet off Mylae, destroy- 
ing thirty of his ships ; but the decisive battle 
Naubohus ^^^ fought on the 3rd of September (36 B.C.), 
off Naulochus, a seaport between Mylae and the 
promontory of Pelorus. Agrippa gained a brilliant victory ; 
most of the Pompeian vessels were destroyed or taken. Pompeius 
himself fled to Lesbos with a squadron of seventeen ships. 

Octavian did not pursue him, as Lepidus, who was at the head 

of a considerable force, now claimed Sicily for himself, and an 

equal share as triumvir in the government of 

e iremen ^j^^ Roman world ; but Octavian found means to 

seduce his soldiers from their allegiance ; and 

Lepidus was at last obliged to surrender to Octavian, and to 

throw himself upon his mercy. His life was granted, but he 

was deprived of his triumvirate, his army, and his provinces, and 

vras compelled to retire to Italy as a private person. He was 

allowed, however, to retain his property and the dignity oi 

Pontifex Maximus. He lived till 12 B.C. 

In 35 B.C. Pompeius crossed over from Lesbos to Asia, with the 
view of seizing that province ; but he was easily crushed by the 
lieutenants of Antony, was taken prisoner as he 
Death of attempted to escape to Armenia, and was put to 

Pompeius. death at Miletus. By the death of Pompeius and 
the deposition of Lepidus, Antony and Octavian 
•were now left without a rival ; and Antony's mad love for 
Cleopatra soon made Octavian the undisputed master of the 
Roman world. 

After Antony's marriage "with Octavia, in 40 B.C., he seems 
for a time to have forgotten or at least conquered the fascinations 
of the Egyptian queen. For the next three years he resided at 
Athens with his w\ie ; but after his visit to Italy, and the re- 
newal of the triumvirate in 37 B.C., he left, Octavia behind at 
Tarentum, and determined to carry out his ■ long-pi'ojected 
campaign against the Parthians. 

As he approached Syria, " that great evil," as Plutai'ch calls 
it, his passion for Cleopatra, burst forth vpith more vehemence 



Chap. XXX VII.] ANTONY IN EGYPT. 317 

than ever. From this time she appears as his evil genius. He 
summoned her to him, and loaded her with honours and 
favours. He added to her dominions Phoenicia, 
Coele-Syria, Cyprus, a large part of Cilicia, Pales- J^^^^^J/^' 
tine, and Arabia, and publicly recognized the cieonatra 
children she had borne him. Although he had 
collected a large army to invade the Parthian empire, he was 
unable to tear himself away from the enchantress, and did not 
commence his march till late in the year. The expedition 
proved most disastrous ; the army suffered from want of 
provisions ; and Antony found himself compelled to retreat. 
He narrowly escaped the fate of Crassus; and it was with the 
utmost difficulty that he succeeded in reaching the Armenian 
mountains after losing the best part of his troops. 

Antony returned to Alexandria, and surrendered himself 
entirely to Cleopatra. In 34 b c. he made a short campaign 
into Armenia, and succeeded in obtaining pos- 
session of Artavasdes, the Armenian king. He -J^ °^J ^^ 
carried him to Alexandria, and, to the great 
scandal of all the Romans, entered the city in triumph, with all 
the pomp and ceremonial of the Roman pageant. He now laid 
aside entirely the character of a Roman citizen, and assumed 
the state and dress of an Eastern monarch. Instead of the toga 
he wore a robe of purple, and his head was crowned with a 
diadem. Sometimes he assumed the character of Osiris, while 
Cleopatra appeared at his side as Isis. He gave the title of 
kings to Alexander and Ptolemy, his sons by Cleopatra. The 
Egyptian queen already dreamed of reigning over the Roman 
world. 

Wliile Antony was disgusting the Romans and alienating his 
friends and supporters by his senseless follies, Octavian had 
been restoring order to Italy ; and, by his wise and energetic 
administration, was slowly repairing the evils of the civil wars. 
In order to give security to the frontiers and employment to the 
troops, he attacked the barbarians on the north of Italy and 
Greece, and subdued the lapydes, Pannonians, and Dalmatians. 
He carried on these wars in person, and won the affection of 
the soldiers by sharing their dangers and hardships. 

The contrast between the two triumvirs was sufficiently 
striking, but Octavian called attention to the follies of Antony. 



318 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



[Chap. XXXVII. 



Letters passed between them full of mutual recriminations, and 
both parties began to prepare for the inevitable struggle. 

Towards the end of 32 B.C. the senate declared war against 
Cleopatra,* since there was no ground for treating Antony as a 
public enemy. The five years of the triumvirate 
War declared had expired on the last day of this year ; and on 
against ^-^e 1st of January, 31 B.C., Octavian, as Consul of 

the Republic, proceeded to carry on the war 
against the Egyptian queen. The hostile fleets and armies 
assembled on the western coasts of Greece. Antony's fleet was 
superior both in the number and size of the ships, but they were 
clumsy and unmanageable. They were anchored in the 

Ambraciot Gulf in the 
modern Bay of Pre- 
vesa. (See Plan, P.) 
The army was en- 
camped on the pro- 
montory of Actium 
(Plan, 3), which has 
given its name to the 
battle. The fleet of 
Octavian consisted of 
light Liburnian ves- 
sels, manned by crews 
which had gained ex- 
perience in the wars 
against Sextus Pompeius. It was under the command of the 
able Agrippa, who took up his station at Corcyra, and swept the 
Adriatic Sea. 

Octavian in person took the command of the land-forces, which 
were encamped on the coast of Epirus opposite Actium, on the 
spot where Nicopolis afterwards stood. (Plan, 1.) 
The generals of Antony strongly urged him to 
fight on land ; but the desertions among his 
troops were numerous ; Cleopatra became alarmed for her 
safety ; and it was therefore resolved to sacrifice the army, and 
retire with the fleet to Egypt. But Agrippa was on the watch, 
and Antony had no sooner saUed outside the strait than he was 
compelled to fight. The battle was still undecided and equally 
* Antony retaliated by sending Octavia a bill of divorcs. 




Plan of Actium. 

Nicopolis. I 3. Prom. Actium. 

O. La Scara. \ 5. Temple of Apollo. 

P. Bay of Prevesa. 



Battle of 
Actium. 



Chap. XXXVII.] DEATH OF ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 319 

favourable to both parties, when Cleopatra, whose vessels were 
at anchor in the rear, taking advantage of a favourable breeze 
which sprung up, sailed through the midst of the combatants 
with her squadron of sixty ships, and made for the coast of 
Peloponnesus. When Antony saw her flight, he hastily followed 
her, forgetting everything else, and shamefully deserting those 
who were fighting and dying in his cause. The remainder of 
the fleet was destroyed before night-time, and the army, after a 
few days' hesitation, surrendered. The battle of Actium was 
fought on the 2nd of September, 31 B.C., from which day the sole 
rule of Octavian may be dated, although his constitutional position 
as Princeps was not secured until four years later (27 B.C.). 

Octavian did not follow Antony to Alexandria for nearly 
twelve months after the battle of Actium. He sent Agrippa to 
Italy with his veteran troops, and himself passed the winter at 
Samos ; but he could not satisfy the demands of the soldiers, 
who broke out into open mutiny. Octavian hastened to Brun- 
dusium, and with difficulty raised a sufficient sum of money to 
calm their discontent. 

This respite was of no service to Antony and Cleopatra. 
They knew that resistance was hopeless, and therefore sent 
ambassadors' to Octavian to solicit his favour. 
To Antony no answer was given, but to Cleopatra +o ^J^^^ ^^^^ 
hopes were held out if she would betray her lover. 
She began to flatter herself that her charms, which had fascinated 
both Caesar and Antony, might conquer Octavian, who was 
younger than either. Octavian at length appeared before Pelu- 
sium, which surrendered to him without resistance. He then 
marched upon Alexandria. Antony, encouraged by some slight 
success in an action with the cavalry, prepared to resist Octavian 
both by sea and land ; but as soon as the Egyptian ships ap- 
proached those of Octavian, the crews saluted them with their 
oars and passed over to their side. Antony's cavahy also 
deserted him ; his infantry was easily repulsed ; and he fled to 
Alexandria, crying out that he was betrayed by Cleopatra. 

The queen had shut herself up in a mausoleum which she 
had built to receive her body after death, and where she had 
collected her most valuable treasures. Hearing of Antony's 
defeat, she sent persons to inform him that she was dead. He 
fell into the snare ,• they had promised not to survive one 



320 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXVII. 

another ; and Antony stabbed himself. He was drawn up into 
the mausoleum, and died in her arms. She was apprehended 
by the officers of Octavian, and a few days after- 
Deatn of wards had an interview with the conqueror. Her 

Cleopatra. charms, however, failed in softening the colder 

heart of Octavian. He only " bade her be of good 
cheer and fear no violence." Soon afterwards she learnt that she 
was to be sent to Rome in three days' time. This news decided 
her. On the following day she was found lying dead on a golden 
couch in royal attire, with her two women lifeless at her feet. 
The manner of her death was unknown. It was generally believed 
that she had died by the bite of an asp, which a peasant had brought 
to her in a basket full of figs. She was thirty-nine j^ears of age at 
the time of her death. Egypt became a Roman possession. 
Octavian did not return to Rome till 29 B.C., when he celebrated 
a threefold triumph over the Pannonians, Dalmatians, and 
Egypt. The temple of Janus was closed for the third time in 
Roman history, and the exhausted Roman world, longing for 
repose, gladly acquiesced in the sole rule of Octavian. 

Thus ended the Roman Republic, an end to which it had been 
tending for the last hundred years. The corruption and de- 
moralization of all classes had rendered a Republic 
The Prmci- almost an impossibility ; and the civil dissensions 
of the state had again and again invested one or 
more persons with despotic authority. The means which Augustus 
employed to strengthen and maintain his power belong to a 
history of the Empire. He proceeded with the caution which 
was his greatest characteristic. He refused the names of king 
and dictator, and was contented with the simple appellation of 
Princeps, or " chief citizen," which had long been used to 
designate any one eminent in the service of the Republican 
government. He received, however, in 27 B.C., the novel title 
of Augustus, that is, " the sacred," or " the venerable," which 
was afterwards assumed by all the Roman emperors as a sur- 
name. His authority was secured by the assumption of two 
extraordinary powers — the Proconsulare imperium, which made 
him commander-in-chief of the Roman armies ; and the Tribanicia 
potestas, which gave him pre-eminence over the civil magistrates 
of the state. He made a new division of the provinces, allow- 
ing the senate to appoint the governors of those which were 



Chap. XXXVII.] 



THE PRINCIPATE. 



321 



quiet and long-settled, like Sicily, Achaia, and Asia, but re- 
taining I'or himself such as required the presence of an army, 
which were governed by means of his Legati. On the death of 
Lepidus in 12 B.C., he succeeded him as Pontifex Maximus, and 
thus became the head of the Roman religion. While he thus 
united in his own person all the great ofiSces of state, he still 
allowed the consuls, praetors, and other magistrates of the 
Republic to be annually elected, and to perform their normal 
functions, while he restored the senate to the numbers fixed by 
Sulla, and to its Republican character of a body of Italian nobles. 
" In a few words, the system of Imperial government, as it was 
instituted by Octavian, and maintained by those princes who 
understood their own interest and that of the people, may be 
defined as an absolute government disguised by the form of a 
commonwealth. The masters of the Roman world surrounded 
their throne with darkness, concealed their irresistible strength, 
and humbly professed themselves the accountable ministers of 
the senate, whose supreme decrees they dictated and obeyed." * 

* Gibbon. 




Coin of Augustus commemorating the conquest of Egypt. 




Medal of Horace. 



CHAPTEE XXXVIII. 

SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF ROMAN LITERATURE, FROM THE 
EARLIEST TIMES TO THE DEATH OF AUGUSTUS. 



Folk-songs. 



For many centuries after the foundation of the city the Eomans 
can hardly be said to have had any Hterature at all. There may 

have existed, at an early period, some songs or 

ballads, recounting, in rude strains,* the exploits of 
the heroes of Roman story, but all trace of these has disappeared. 
It was not till the conquest of the Greek cities in Southern Italy, 
shortly before the First Punic War, that we can date the com- 
mencement of a true literature. 

It began with the Drama. The earliest dramatic exhibitions at 
Rome had been introduced from Etruria in 364 B.C. ; they had 

a religious significance, and were intended to avert 
dranmtic art ^^^ anger of the gods on the occasion of a severe 

pestilence. But these exhibitions were only 
pantomimic scenes to the music of the flute, without any dialogue. 
It was not till 240 B.C. that a drama with a regular plot was 
performed at Rome. 

* These were probably composed in the Saturnian metre, the oldest species of 
versification among the Romans, the freedom of which, with regard to the laws of 
quantity, gave greater play to the genius of the Latin language than the dactylic 
hexameter borrowed from the Greeks. 



Chap. XXXVIII. ] ROMAN LITERATURE. 323 

Its author was M. Livius Andeonicus, a native of Magna 

Graecia, who was taken prisoner at the capture of Tarentum, 

and carried to Rome, where he became the slave 

of M. Liviiis Salinator. He was afterwards set free, .'^Tj^^ • 

, T Ti . 11 ... Anoronicus. 

and, accordmg to Koman practice, took the gentihc 

name of his master. He acquired at Rome a perfect knowledge 

of the Latin language ; and wrote both tragedies and comedies, 

which were borrowed or rather translated from the Greek. He 

also wrote an Odyssey in the Saturnian metre, and some hymns. 

He may be regarded as the first Roman poet. His works were 

read in schools in the time of Horace. 

Cn. Nakvius, the second Roman poet, was a Campanian by 
birth. He served in the First Punic War, and, like Livius, 
wrote dramas borrowed from the Greek. His „ 
first play was performed in 235 B.C. He was 
attached to the plebeian party ; and, with the hcence of the old 
Attic comedy, he made the stage a vehicle for assailing the 
aristocracy. In consequence of his attacks upon the Metelli 
he was thrown into prison. He obtained his release through the 
tribunes, but was soon compelled to expiate a new offence by 
exile. He retired to Utica, where he died about 204 B.C. In 
his exile he wrote, in the Saturnian metre, an epic poem on the 
First Punic War, in which he introduced the celebrated legends 
connected with the foundation of Rome. This poem was ex- 
tensively copied both by Ennius and Vergil. 

Q. Ennius, however, may be regarded as the real founder of 
Roman literature. Like Livius, he was a native of Magna 
Graecia. He was born at Rudiae, in Calabria, 
239 B.C. Cato found him in Sardinia in 204 S^.,?^*'^^ 
B.C., and brought him in his train to Rome. He 
dwelt in a humble house on the Aventine, and maintained him- 
self by acting as preceptor to the youth of the Roman nobility. 
He lived on terms of the closest intimacy with the elder Scipio 
Africanus, and died in the year 169 B.C., at the age of seventy. 
He was buried in the sepulchre of the Scipios, and his bust 
was allowed a place among the effigies of that noble house. His 
most important work was an epic poem, entitled the " Annals of 
Rome," in eighteen books, written in dactylic hexameters, which, 
through his example, supplanted the old Saturnian metre. This 
poem commenced with the story of Aeneas, and contained a 



324 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXVIII. 

chronological record of events down to the writer's own time. 
Vergil borrowed largely from it ; and, down to his time, it was 
regarded as the great epic poem of the Latin language. He also 
wrote numerous tragedies, a few comedies, and several other 
works, such as Saturae, miscellaneous poems composed in a 
great variety of metres, from which circumstance they probably 
received their name. 

The comic drama of Kome, though it continued to be more 

or less a translation or an imitation of the 

Plautus " Greek, was cultivated with distinguished success 

by two writers of genius, several of whose plays 

are still extant. 

T. Maocius Plautus was a native of Sarsina, a small village 
in Umbria, and was born about 254 B.C. He probably came to 
Rome at an early age, and was first employed in the service of 
the actors. With the money he had saved in this inferior 
station he left Rome, and set up in business : but his speculations 
failed : he returned to the capital, and his necessities obliged him 
to enter the service of a baker, who employed him in turning a 
hand-mill. While in this degrading occupation he wrote three 
plays, the sale of which to the managers of the public games 
enabled him to quit his drudgery, and begin his literary career. 
He was then about thirty years of age (224 B.C.), and continued to 
write for the stage for about forty years. He died in 184 B.C., 
when he was seventy years of age. The comedies of Plautus en- 
joyed unrivalled popularity among the Romans, and continued to 
be represented down to the time of Diocletian. Though they were 
founded upon Greek models, the characters in them act, speak, 
and joke like genuine Romans, and the poet thereby secured the 
sympathy of his audience more completely than Terence. It 
was not only with the common people that Plautus was a 
favourite ; educated Romans read and admired his works down 
to the latest times. Cicero places his wit on a level with that of 
the old Attic comedy ; and St. Jerome used to console himself 
with the perusal of the poet, after spending many nights in tears 
on account of his past sins. The favourable opinion which the 
ancients entertained of the merits of Plautus has been confirmed 
by the judgment of modern critics, and by the fact that several 
of his plays have been imitated by many of the best modern 
poets. Twenty of his comedies are exiant. 



Chap. XXXVIII.] ROMAN LITERATURE. 325 

P. Tekentius Afek, usually called Teeence, was born at 
Carthage, 195 B.C. By birth or purchase he became the slave 
of P. Terentius, a Roman senator, who afforded „ 
him the best education of the age, and finally 
gave him his freedom. The Andria, the first play of Terence 
placed on the stage (166 B.C.), was the means of introducing 
him to the most refined and intellectual circles of Rome. His 
chief patrons were Laelius and the younger Scipio, both of whom 
treated him as an equal, and are paid even to have assisted him in 
the composition of his plays. He died in the thirty-sixth year 
of his age, in 159 B.C. Six comedies are all that remain to us. 
The ancient critics are unanimous in ascribing to Terence im- 
maculate purity and elegance of language. Although a foreigner 
and a freedman, he divides with Cicero and Caesar the palm 
of pure Latinity. 

There were two other comic poets, whose works are lost, but 
who enjoyed a great reputation among the Romans. Statius 
Caecilius was a native of Milan, and, like Terence, came to 
Rome as a slave. He was the immediate predecessor of Terence, 
and died 168 B.C., two years before the representation of the 
Andria. L. Afranius flourished 100 B.C., and wrote comedies 
describing Roman scenes and manners, called Gomoediae Togatue, 
to distinguish them from those depicting Grecian life, which were 
termed PaUiatae, from pallium, the national dress of the Greeks. 

There were two tragic poets contemporary with Terence, who 
also enjoyed great celebrity, though their works have likewise 
perished. M. Pacuvius, son of the sister of 
Ennius, was born about 220 B.C., and died in the pacuvius" 
ninetieth year of his age. He is praised by the 
Latin writers for the loftiness of his thoughts, the vigour of his 
language, and the extent of his knowledge. Hence we find the 
epithet dodus frequently applied to him. Most of his tragedies 
were taken from the Greek writers ; but some belonged to the 
class called Praetextafae, in which the subjects were taken from 
Roman story. One of these, entitled Paidlus, had as its hero L. 
Aemilius Paullus, the conqueror of Perseus, king of Macedonia. 

L. Accius, a younger contemporary of Pacuvius, was born 
- 140 B.C., and lived to a gi-eat age. Cicero, when . 
a young man. frequently conversed with him. 
His tragedies, like those of Pacuvius, were chiefly imitations of 



326 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXVIII. 

the Greek ; but he also wrote some on Roman subjects, one of 
which was entitled Brutus. 

Though the Roman drama, properly so called, was derived 
from, the Greeks, there were some kinds of dramatic exhibitions 
, which were of Italian origin. The first of these 

were the Attllanae Fabulae, or Atellane Plays, 
which took their name from Atella, a town in Campariia. They 
were at first rude extemporaneous farces, but were afterwards 
divided into acts like a regular drama. They were originally 
composed in the Oscan dialect ; but, when cultivated by the 
youth of Rome, who readily assumed parts in these pieces, 
they must have been acted in Latin. 

The Mimes were another species of comedy, of which only 
the name seems to have been derived from the Greek. They 
were a species of low comedy, in which the 
dialogue was subordinate to mimicry and gesture. 
The Dictator Sulla was very fond of these performances. The 
two most distinguished writers of Mimes were D. Laberius, 
a knight, and P. Syrus, a freed man, and originally a Syrian 
slave, both of whom were contemporaries of Julius Caesar. At 
Caesar's triumphal games in October, 45 B.C., P. Syrus 
challenged all his craft to a trial of wit in extemporaneous farce, 
and Caesar offered Laberius 500,000 sesterces to appear on the 
stage. Laberius was sixty years old, and the profession of a 
mimus was infamous, but the wish of the dictator was equiva- 
lent to a command, and he reluctantly complied. He had, 
however, revenge in his power, and took it. His prologue 
awakened compassion, and perhaps indignation ; and during the 
performance he adroitly availed himself of his various characters 
to point his wit at Caesar. In the person of a beaten Syrian 
slave he cried out, "Marry! Quirites, but we lose our free- 
dom," and all eyes were turned upon the dictator : and in 
another mime he uttered the pregnant maxim, '' Needs must 
he fear who makes all else adread." Caesar, impartially or 
vindictively, awarded the prize to Syrus. 

The Fescennine Songs were probably the origin of the Satire, 

the only important species of literature not derived from the 

Greeks, and altogether peculiar to Italy. These 

Fescennine Songs were rude dialogues, in which 

the coimtry people assailed and ridiculed one another in 



Chap. XXXVIII.] ROMAN LITERATURE. 327 

extempore verses, and which were introduced as an amusement 
into various festivals. 

Baturae* although the name was given to certain poems of 
Ennius, first assumed definite Hterary shape from the hands of 
C. LuciLius, who wrote in hexameter verse, and _ ... 
attacked the follies and vices both of dis- 
tinguished persons and of mankind in general. He was born 
180 B.C., at Suessa Aurunca, and died at Naples in 103 B.C. 
He lived upon terms of intimacy with the younger Scipio and 
Laelius ; and was the great-uncle of Pompey on his mother's 
side. Lucilius continued to be admired in the Augustan age ; 
and Horace, while he censures the harsh versification and the 
slovenly haste with which Lucilius threw off his compositions, 
acknowledges with admiration the fierceness and boldness of his 
attacks upon the vices and follies of his contemporaries. 

Between Lucilius and the poets of the Augustan age lived 
Lucretius and Catullus, two of the greatest — perhaps the greatest 
— of all the Roman poets. 

T. LucuETius Caeus was born 96 b.c, and died in 55 b.c. 
He is said to have been driven mad by a love-potion, and to 
have perished by his own hand. The work which Poets of the 
has immortalized his name is a philosophical later Re- 
didactic poem, in heroic hexameters, entitled De piil>lic :_ 
Rerum Natura, divided into six books, and ^^cretius, 
addressed to C. Memmius Gemellus, who was praetor in 58 B.C. 
Its object is to state clearly the leading principles of the 
Epicurean philosophy in such a form as might render the study 
attractive to his countrymen. He attempts to show that there 
is nothing in the history or actual condition of the world which 
does not admit of explanation without having recourse to the 
active interposition of divine beings. The work has been 
admitted by all modern critics to be the greatest of didactic 
poems. The most abstruse speculations are clearly explained 
in majestic verse ; while the subject, which in itself is dry and 
dull, is enlivened by digressions of matchless power and beauty. 

Valerius Catullus was born at Verona or in its immediate 
vicinity, in 87 B.C. He inherited considerable property from his 
father, who was the friend of Julius Caesar ; but he squandered 

* The name signifies a mixture or medley. Hence a lex per saturam lata is 
a law which contained several distinct regulations at once. 



328 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXVIII. 

a great part of it by indulging freely in the pleasures of the 
metropolis. In order to better his fortunes he went to Bithynia 
_ .^ in the train of the praetor Memmius, but it 

appears that the speculation was attended with 
little success. It was probably during this expedition that his 
brother died in the Troad, a loss which he deplores in the 
affecting elegy to Hortalus. On his return he continued to reside 
at Rome, or at his country-seats on the promontory of Sirmio 
and at Tibur. He died about 54 B.C. His poems are on a 
variety of topics, and composed in different styles and metres. 
Some are lyrical, others elegies, others epigrams ; while the 
Nuptials of Peleus and Thetis is an heroic poem. Catullus 
adorned all he touched, and his shorter poems are characterized 
by original invention and felicity of expression. His Atys is 
one of the most remarkable poems in the whole range of Latin 
literature, distinguished by wild passion and the noblest diction. 
Among the poets of the Augustan age Vergil and Horace 
stand forth pi'e-eminent. 

P. Vekgilius Maro was born, 70 B.C., at Andes, a small 
village near Mantua in Cisalpine Gaul. His father left him 

a small estate, which he cultivated. After the 
The Augustan battle of Phihppi (42 b.c.) his property was among 
Vereil. *^* lands assigned by Oc: avian to the soldiers. 

Through the advice of Asinius Pollio, who was 
then governor of Cisalpine Gaul, and was himself a poet, Vergil 
applied to Octavian at Rome for the restitution of his land, and 
obtained his request. The first Eclogue commemorates his 
gratitude. Vergil lived on intimate terms with Maecenas, whom 
he accompanied in the journey from Rome to Brundusium, 
which forms the subject of one of the Satires of Horace. His 
most finished work, the Geon/ics, was undertaken at the 
suggestion of Maecenas.* The poem was completed after the 
battle of Actium, 31 B.C., while Octavian was in the East.f 
The Aeneid was the occupation of his latter years. His health 
w^as always feeble, and he died at Brundusium in 19 B.C., in his 
fifty-first year. His remains were transferred to Naples, which 
had been his favourite residence, and placed on the road from 
Naples to Puteoli {PozzuoU), where a monument is still shown, 
supposed to be the tomb of the poet. It is said that in his last 
* Georg. iii. 41. j Comp. Georg. iv. 560, and ii. 171. 



Chap. XXXVIII.] ROMAN LITERATURE. 329 

illness he wished to burn the Aeneid, to which he had not given 
the finishing touches, but his friends would not allow him. He 
was an amiable good-tempered man, free from the mean passions 
of envy and jealousy. His fame, which was estabHshed in his 
lifetime, was cherished after his death as an inheritance in which 
every Roman had a share ; and his works became school-books 
even before the death of Augustus, and continued such for 
centuries after. He was also the great poet of the Middle Ages. 
To him Dante paid the homage of his superior genius, and 
owned him for his master and his model. The ten short poems 
called Bucolics, or Eclogues, were the earliest works of Vergil, 
and probably all written between 41 B.C. and 39 B.C. They 
have all a Bucolic form and colouring, but some of them have 
nothing more. Their merit consists in their versification, and 
in many natural and simple touches. The Oeorgics is an 
" Agricultural Poem " in four books. Vergil treats of the culti- 
vation of the soil in the first book, of fruit-trees in the second, of 
horses and other cattle in the third, and of bees in the fourth. 
This poem shows a great improvement both in his taste and in 
his versification. Neither in the Oeorgics nor elsewhere has he 
the merit of striking originality ; his chief excellence consists in 
the skilful handling of borrowed materials. The Aeneid, or 
adventures of Aeneas after the fall of Troy, is an epic formed on 
the model of the Homeric poems. It was founded upon an old 
Eoman tradition that Aeneas and his Trojans settled in Italy, 
and were the founders of the Roman name. In the first six 
books the adventures of Ulysses in the Odyssey are the model, 
and these books contain more variety of incident and situation 
than those which follow. The last six books, the history of the 
struggles of Aeneas in Italv, are based on the plan of the battles 
of the Iliad. Latinus, the king of the Latini, offers in marriage 
to the Trojan hero his daughter Lavinia, who had been betrothed 
to Turnus, the warlike king of the Rutuli. The contest is ended 
by the death of Turnus, who falls by the hand of Aeneas. The 
fortunes of Aeneas and his final settlement in Italy are the 
subjects of the Aeneid, but the glories of Rome and of the Julian 
house, to which Augustus belonged, are indirectly the poet's 
theme. In the first book the foundation of Alba Longa is 
promised by Jupiter to Venus, and the transfer of empire from 
Alba to Rome ; from the line of Aeneas will descend the 



330 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap XXXVIII. 

" Trojan Caesar," whose empire will only be limited by the 
ocean, and his glory by the heavens. The ultimate triumphs of 
Rome are predicted. 

Q. HoRATius Flaccus, usually called Horace, was born at 
Venusia in Apulia, 65 B.C. His father was a freedman. He 
had received his manumission before the birth of 
the poet, who was, therefore, of ingenuous origin, 
but who did not altogether escape the taunt which adhered to 
persons even of remote servile descent. His father's occupation 
was that of a collector {coador) of taxes. With the profits of 
his office he had purchased a small farm in the neighbourhood 
of Venusia. Though by no means rich, he declined to send the 
young Horace to the common school, kept in Venusia by one 
Flavins, to which the children of the rural aristocracy resorted. 
Probably about his twelfth year his father carried him to Rome 
to receive the usual education of a knight's or senator's son. 
He frequented the best schools in the capital. One of these 
was kept by Orbilius, a retired military man, whose flogging pro- 
pensities have been immortalized by his pupil. The names of 
his other teachers he has not recorded. He was instructed in 
the Greek and Latin languages : the poets were the usual school- 
books — Homer in the Greek, and the old tragic writer, Livius 
Andronicus, in the Latin, In his eighteenth year Horace pro- 
ceeded to Athens, in order to continue his studies at that seat 
of learning. When Brutus came to Athens after the death of 
Caesar, Horace joined his army, and received at once the rank 
of a military ti'ibune. He was present at the battle of Philippi, 
and shared in the flight of the republican army. In one of his 
poems he playfully alludes to his flight and throwing away his 
shield. He now resolved to devote himself to more peaceful 
pursuits ; and having obtained his pardon, he ventured at once to 
return to Rome. He had lost all his hopes in life ; his paternal 
estate had been swept awav in the general forfeiture ; but he 
was enabled to obtain sufficient money to purchase a clerkship 
in the quaestor's office ; and on the profits of that place he 
managed with the utmost frugality to live. Meantime some of 
his poems attracted the notice of Varius and A^ergil, who in- 
troduced him to Maecenas (38 B.C.) Horace soon became the 
friend of Maecenas, and this friendship quickly ripened into 
intimacy. In the year following tlie commencement of their 



Chap. XXXVIII.] ROMAN LITERATURE. 331 

friendship (37 b.c.) Horace accompanied his patron on the 
journey to Brundusium already alluded to. About the year 
32 B.C. Maecenas bestowed upon the poet a Sabine farm, 
sufficient to maintain him in ease, comfort, and even in content, 
during the rest of his life. Besides this estate, his admiration of 
the beautiful scenery in the neighbourhood of Tibur inclined him 
either to hire or to purchase a small cottage in that romantic 
town ; and all the later years of his life were passed between 
the metropolis and these two country residences. He died in 
8 B.C., in his fifty-seventh year. He was buried on the slope of 
the Esquiline Hill, close to his friend and patron Maecenas, who 
had died before him in the same year. Horace has described his 
own person. He was of short stature, with dark eyes and black 
hair, early tinged with grey. In his youth he was tolerably 
robust, but suffered from a complaint in his eyes. In more 
advanced life he grew fat, and Augustus jested about his cor- 
pulence. His health was not always good, and he seems to have 
inclined to be a valetudinarian. In dress he was rather careless. 
His habits, even after he became richer, were generally frugal 
and abstemious ; though on occasions, both in youth and maturer 
age, he seems to have indulged in conviviality. He liked choice 
wine, and in the society of friends scrupled not to enjoy the 
luxuries of his time. He was never married. The Odes of 
Horace want the higher inspirations of lyric verse. His amatory 
verses are exquisitely graceful, but they have no strong ardour, 
no deep tenderness, nor even much of light and joyous gaiety; 
but as works of refined art, of the most skilful felicities of 
language and of measure, of translucent expression, and of 
agreeable images embodied in words which imprint themselves 
indelibly on the memory, they are unrivalled. In the Satires of 
Horace there is none of the loftv moral indignation, the fierce 
vehemence of invective, which characterized the later satii-ists. 
It is the folly rather than the wickedness of vice which he 
touches with such playful skill. In the Epodes there is bitter- 
ness provoked, it should seem, by some personal hatred or sense 
of injury. But the Epistles are the most perfect of the Horatian 
poetry, the poetry of manners and society, the beauty of which 
consists in its common sense and practical wisdom. The 
Epistles of Horace are, with the Poem of Lucretius, the Georgics 
of Vergil, and perhaps the Satires of Juvenal, the most perfect 



332 HISTORV OF ROME. [Chap. XXXVIII. 

and most original form of Roman verse. The Art of Poetry was 
probably intended to dissuade one of the younger Pisos from 
devoting himself to poetry, for which he had little genius, or at 
least to suggest the difficulties of attaining to perfection. 

Three celebrated Elegiac poets — Tibullus, Propertius, and 
Ovid — also belong to the Augustan age. 

Albius Tibullus was of equestrian family, and possessed an 
hereditary estate between Tibur and Praeneste. His great 
patron was Messala, whom he accompanied in 
31 B.C. to Aquitania, whither Messala had been 
sent by Augustus to suppress a formidable insurrection which 
had broken out in this province. In the following year (30 B.C.) 
Messala, having pacified Gaul, was sent into the East. Tibullus 
set out in his company, but was taken ill, and obliged to remain 
in Corcyra, from whence he returned to Rome. So ceased the 
active life of Tibullus. He died at an early age soon after 
Vergil. The poetry of his contemporaries shows Tibullus as a 
gentle and singularly amiable man. To Horace especially he 
was an object of warm attachment. His Elegies, which are 
exquisite small poems, celebrate the beauty and cruelty of his 
mistresses. 

Sextus Propertius was a native of Umbria, and was born 
about 51 B.C. He was deprived of his paternal estate by an 
p ,. agrarian division, probably that in 36 B.C., after 

' the Sicilian War. He began to write poetry at a 
very early age, and the merit of his productions soon attracted 
the attention and patronage of Maecenas. The year of his 
death is altogether unknown. As an elegiac poet a high rank 
must be awarded to Propertius, and among the ancients it was 
a disputed point whether the preference should be given to him 
or to Tibullus. To the modern reader, however, the elegies 
of Propertius are not nearly so attractive as those of Tibullus. 
This arises partly from their obscurity, but in a great measure 
also from a certain lack of natural inspiration. The fault of 
Propertius was too pedantic an imitation of the Greeks. His 
whole ambition was to become the Roman Callimachus, whom 
he made his model. He abounds with obscure Greek myths, 
as well as Greek forms of expression, and the same pedantry 
infects even his versification. 

P. OviDius Naso, usually called Ovid, was born at Sulmo, in 



Chap. XXXVIIL] ROMAN LITERATURE. 333 

the country of the Paeligni, on the 20th March, 43 b.c. He was 
descended from an ancient equestrian family, and was destined 
to be a pleader. But the bent of his genius ^ . 
showed itself very early. The hours which should 
have been spent in the study of jurisprudence were employed 
in cultivating his poetical talent. It is a disputed point whether 
he ever actually practised as an advocate after his return to Rome. 
The picture Ovid himself draws of his weak constitution and 
indolent temper prevents us from thinking that he ever followed 
his profession with perseverance, if indeed at all. He became,how- 
ever, one of the Triumviri Capitales ; and he was subsequently 
made one of the Oentumviri, or judges who tried testamentary 
causes. Till his fiftieth year he continued to reside at Rome, 
where he had a house near the Capitol, occasionally taking a 
trip to his Paelignian farm. He not only enjoyed the friendship 
of a large circle of distinguished men, but the regard and favour 
of Augustus and the imperial family ; notwithstanding which, in 
9 A.D. he was suddenly commanded by an imperial edict to 
transport himself to Tomi, a town on the Euxine, near the 
mouths of the Danube, oti the very border of the empire. He 
underwent no trial, and the sole reason for his banishment stated 
in the edict was his having published his poem on the Art of 
Love {Ars Amatoria). The real cause of his exile is unknown, 
for the publication of the Art of Love, demoralizing as the poem 
might be held to be, was certainly a mere pretext. Ovid draws 
an aflecting picture of the miseries to which he was exposed in 
his place of exile. He complains of the inhospitable soil, of the 
severity of the climate, and of the perils to which he was ex- 
posed, when the barbarians plundered the surrounding country, 
and insulted the very walls of Tomi. In the midst of all his 
misfortunes he sought some relief in the exercise of his poetical 
talents. He died in exile in the sixtieth year of his age, 18 a.d. 
Besides his amatory poems, Ovid wrote the MetamorpJioses in 
fifteen books, which consist of such legends or fables as involved 
a transformation, from the Creation to the time of Julius Caesar, 
the last being that emperor's change into a star — the Fasti, in- 
tended to extend to twelve books, of which only the first six are 
extant, a sort of poetical Roman calendar, with its appropriate 
festivals and mythology — and the Elegies, written during his 
banishment. Ovid undoubtedly possessed a great poetical 



334 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXVIII. 

genius, which makes it the more to be regretted that it was not 
always under the control of a sound judgment. He exhibits great 
vigour of fancy and warmth of colouring, but he was the first 
to depart from that pure and correct taste which characterizes 
the Greek poets and their earher Latin imitators. 

We now turn to the history of prose literature among the 

Kornans. The earhest prose works were Annals containing a 

meagre account of the principal events in Roman 
Annalists. , . , i i ^i • 

history, arranged under their respective years. 

The earliest annalists who obtained reputation were Q. Fabius 
PiCTOE and L. Cincius Alimentus, both of whom served in the 
Second Punic War, and drew up an account of tt, but they 
wrote in the Greek language. 

The first prose writer in the Latin language, of whom any 
considerable fragments have been preserved, is the celebrated 
censor, M. PoRCtus Cato, who died 149 b.c, 
and of whose life an account has already been 
given. He wrote an important historical work entitled Origines. 
The first book contained the history of the Roman kings ; the 
second and third treated of the origin of the Italian towns, 
and from these two books the whole work derived its title ; the 
fourth book treated of the First Punic War, the fifth book of 
the Second Punic War, and the sixth and seventh continued the 
narrative to the year 149 B.C. There is still extant a work on 
agriculture (De Re Rudlca) bearing the name of Cato, which is 
probably substantially his, though it is certainly not exactly in 
the form in which it proceeded from his pen. There were many 
other annalists, of whom we know little more than the names, 
and whose works were used by Livy in compiling his Roman 
history. 

Oratory was always cultivated by the Romans as one of the 
chief avenues to political distinction. Cicero, in his work en- 
titled Brutus, has given a long list of distinguished 
orators whose speeches he had read : but he him- 
self surpassed all his predecessors and contemporaries. In his 
works the Latin language appears in the highest perfection. 
Besides his numerous orations he also wrote several treatises 
on Rhetoric, of which the most perfect is a systematic treatise 
on the art of oratory (Z>e Oratore) in three books. His works on 



Chap. XXXVIII.] ROMAN LITERATCRE. 335 

Philosophy were almost the first specimens of this kind of 
literature ever presented to the Romans in their own language. 
He does not aim at any original investigation or research. His 
object was to present in a familiar and attractive form the 
results at which the Greek philosophers had arrived, not to 
expound any new theories. His Epistles, of which more than 
eight hundred have come down to us, are among the most 
valuable remains of antiquity. Cicero, during the most im- 
portant period of his life, maintained a close correspondence 
with Atticus and with a wide circle of political friends and 
connections. These letters supply the most ample materials for 
a history of the Roman Republic during its last struggles, and 
afford a clear insight into the personal dispositions and motives 
of its chief leaders. 

The most learned Roman under the Republic was M. Teken- 
Tius Varro, a contemporary and friend of Cicero. He served 
as Pompey's lieutenant in Spain in the civil wars, 
but was pardoned by Caesar after the battle of 
Pharsalus, and was employed by him in superintending the 
collection and arrangement of the great library designed for 
public use. Upon the formation of the second triumvirate, 
Varro's name appeared upon the list of the proscribed : but he 
succeeded in making his escape, and, after having remained for 
some time in concealment, he obtained the protection of Octa- 
vian. His death took place 28 B.C., when he was in his 89th 
year. Not only was Varro the most learned of Roman scholars, 
but he was likewise the most voluminous of Roman authors. We 
have his own authority for the assertion that he had composed 
no less than 490 books, but of these only two have come down 
to us, and one of them in a mutilated form : 1. De Re Rustica, 
a work on agriculture, in three books, written when the author 
was eighty years old ; 2. De Lingui Latina, a grammatical 
treatise which extended to twenty-five books, but six only have 
been preserved, and these are in a mutilated condition. The 
remains of this treatise are particularly valuable. They have 
preserved many terms and forms which would otherwise have 
been altogether lost, and much curious information connected 
with the ancient usages, both civil and rehgious, of the Romans. 

C. Julius Caesar, the great dictator, was also distinguished 
as an author, and wrote several works, of which his memoirs 



336 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXVIII. 

(Oommentarii) alone have come down to us. They relate the 
history of the first seven years of the Gallic War in seven 
^ • books, and the history of the Civil War down to 

the commencement of the Alexandrine in three 
books. Neither of these works completes the history of the 
GalHc and Civil Wars. The history of the former was completed 
in an eighth book, which is usually ascribed to Hirtius. The 
history of the Alexandrine, African, and Spanish wars was 
written in three separate books, which are also ascribed to 
Hirtius, but their authorship is uncertain. The purity of 
Caesar's Latin and the clearness of his style have deservedly 
obtained the highest praise. 

C. Sallustius Ceispus, a contemporary of Caesar, and one of 
his supporters, was also distinguished as an historian. He was 
born 86 B.C. at Amiternum, in the country of the 
Sabines, and died in 34 B.C. After the African 
War (46 B.C.) he was left by Caesar as governor of Numidia, 
where he acquired great riches by his oppression of the people. 
Two of his works have come down to us — the Catilina, the 
history of the suppression of Catiline's conspiracy; and the 
Jugurtha, the history of the war against Jugurtha. Sallust 
imitated Thucydides, and attained the conciseness, without the 
obscurity, of his great model. 

CoKNELius Nepos, the contemporary and friend of Cicero 
and Atticus, was the author of numerous works, all of which 
are lost, with the exception of the Biographies 
nTos "^ ^^^'^ ^^^ Atticus, and the Lives of Dis- 

tinguished Commanders ( Vitae Excellentium Im- 
peratorum). But even these Lives are possibly an abridgment 
of the original work of Nepos, made in the fourth century of the 
Christian era. 

Of the prose writers of the Augustan age the most distinguished 
was the historian Titus Livius, usually called Livy. He was 
_. born at Patavium {Padua), 59 B.C. The greater 

part of his life appears to have been spent in 
Rome, but he returned to his native town before his death, 
which happened at the age of seventy-six, in the fourth year of 
Tiberius, a.d. 17. His literary talents secured the patronage 
and friendship of Augustus; and his reputation became so 
widely diffused, that a Spaniard travelled from Cadiz to Rome 



Chap. XXXVIIL] ROMAN LITERATURE. 337 

solely for the purpose of beholding him. and, having gratified 
his curiosity in this one particular, immediately returned home. 
Livy's " History of Rome " extended from the foundation of the 
city to the death of Drusus, 9 B.C., and was comprised in 142 
books. Of these thirty-five have descended to us. The whole 
work has been divided into decades, containing ten books each. 
The First decade (bks. i.-x ) is entire. It embraces the period 
■from the foundation of the city to the year 294 B.C., when the 
subjugation of the Samnites may be said to have been completed. 
The Second decade (bks. xi.-xx.) is altogether lost. It included 
the period from 294 B.C. to 219 B.C., comprising an account, 
among other matters, of the invasion of Pyrrhus and of the 
First Punic War. The Third decade (bks. xxi.-xxx.) is entire. 
It embraces the period from 219 B.C. to 201 B.C., comprehend- 
ing the whole of the Second Punic War. The Fourth decade 
(bks. xxxi.-xl.) is entire, and also one-half of the Fifth {bks. 
xli.-xlv.) These fifteen books continue the history from 201 
B.C. to 167 B.C., and develop the progress of the Roman arms 
in Cisalpine Gaul, in Macedonia, Greece, and Asia, ending with 
the triumph of Aemilius Paullus. Of the remaining books 
nothing is extant except inconsiderable fragments. The style 
of Livy may be pronounced almost faultless. In judging of 
his merits as an historian, we are bound to ascertain, if possible, 
the end which he proposed to himself. No one who reads his 
work with attention can suppose that he ever conceived the 
project of drawing up a critical history of Rome. His aim was 
to offer to his countrymen a clear and pleasing narrative, which, 
while it gratified their vanity, should contain no startling 
improbabilities or gross amplifications. To effect this purpose 
he studied with care the writings of some of his more celebrated 
predecessors in the same field. But in no case did he ever 
dream of ascending to the fountain-head, and never attempted 
to test the accuracy of his authorities by examining monuments 
of remote antiquity. 



338 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXIX, 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE EMPIRE FROM AUGUSTUS TO TRAJAN. 

The victory at Actium on the 2nd of September, 31 B.C., 
gave Octavian free opportunity for the great task of con- 
solidating the administration of the provinces, and of effecting 
the transformation of the government into a skilfully disguised 
monarchical rule. In the war against Antony and Cleopatra, 
he had been presented as the champion of Rome against a 
foreign foe (Horace, Od., i. 37) ; and under this form many old 
opponents found a good excuse for acquiescing in his domination.* 
After reorganizing the Eastern provinces, the conqueror returned 
and entered Rome in a triple triumph which lasted from the 
13th to the 15th of August, 29 (Hor., Od., i. 2. 49). The forms 
under which he had hitherto held power were obviously 
unconstitutional. With masterly policy he now acknowledged 
that it was so. He justified his past action by the plea of 
necessity ; but he declared that the necessity was now no 
longer urgent. He closed the temple of Janus on the 11th of 
January, 29, in token of profound peace in the Roman world. 
On the 13th of January, 29, he formally resigned into the hands 
of the senate the extraordinary and unconstitutional powers 
which he had held, and retired into private life as an ordinary 
citizen of the free Roman republic. 

It had been carefully arranged beforehand, by those who 
pulled the strings of the puppet-show, that the senate should 
refuse to accept his resignation, pleading that Rome was still 
surrounded by dangers, and that only the master-hand, which 
had guided the ship of the state to port through the storms of 

* Hence he dedicated the Palatine temple of ApolJia on the 24th of October, 28 
(Hor., Od., i. 31), in honour of Actium ; but he did not inaugurate the Temple of 
Mars Ultor in commemoration of Philippi until the let pf August, 2 B.C. 



Chap. XXXIX.] OCTAVIAN BECOMES AUGUSTUS. 339 

civil war, was fit to direct her course through the stormy seas 
that still lay before her (Hor., Od., i. 14) : it was impossible to 
release Octavian from the onerous task of government. A 
compromise, therefore, was made ; that he should conduct the 
government with proconsular power in the parts of the Empire 
which were still exposed to danger, while the senate and the 
ordinary magistrates were to exercise their wonted authority 
elsewhere. This was the beginning of the constitutional prin- 
cipate, and on the 16th of January the new title Augtostus 
(Hor., Od., iii. 3. 11) was conferred by the senate on the "lead- 
ing citizen," ^rmce29s (i.e. c'vium, Hor., Od., i. 2. 50). 

The compromise had been skilfully arranged so that all real 
power, i.e. the command of the soldiers, should remain in the 
hands of Augustus. All provinces in which war or rebellion 
was likely to occur, and where armies were needed, were to be 
governed by Augustus himself (acting through his lieutenants), 
and were called imperatorial provinces ; while only the peaceful 
provinces, which had been long under Roman power, and were 
thoroughly pacified, and where no armies were needed, remained 
under the control of the senate. On the other hand, Augustus 
granted with a liberal hand the outward show and trappings of 
authority to the governors whom the senate appointed in its 
provinces ; * they were all, whatever their previous rank in the 
service, adorned with the consular insignia and title {pro con- 
side) ; whereas the governors sent to the provinces, which as 
dangerous were put under his direct authority, were 'merely his 
lieutenants {legati of Augustus) with the insignia of praetors {/iro 
praetore). In the city Augustus was to hold authority as consul, 
elected year by year, while in the specified imperatorial provinces 
the consular authority for a period of ten years was conferred 
on him. The pretence was obviously kept up that these also 
were gradually to pass into the category of peaceful provinces 
under senatorial control. With the command of all armies, the 
right of declaring war and peace, of making treaties, and of 
levying soldiers, remained in the hands of Augustus. The only 
exception was Africa, which, though senatorial, required a legion 
to protect its southern frontier. 

* Asia and Africa were governed by consulares ; Sicily, Gallia Narbonensis, 
Hispania Baetica, feithynia, Crete and Cyrene, etc., by praetorii. Under later 
emperors many changes in the classification of provinces were made. 



340 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXIX, 

Of the imperatorial provinces the more important were 
governed by Augustus's Heutenants of consular or of praetorian 
rank,* the less important by equestrian procurators, while 
Egypt, from which Rome drew her principal corn suppHes, stood 
by itself under the Emperor's own hand. The administration 
of the vast group of provinces was conducted from the central 
bureau in Rome ; and a regular system of sound government 
was there developed, as a long series of reports from the governors 
was received, read, and preserved, and questions were continually 
sent in and answered by the Emperor in rescript. Even the 
government of the senatorial provinces, though partaking more 
of the old haphazard Republican fashion, was much improved ; 
for in most cases the senatorial governors, though designated by 
lot, had been trained in the imperatorial provinces. 

The compromise was so skilfully adjusted that it was 
described by Augustus and his panegyrists, with some show of 
truth, as the restoration of constitutional government {res publica 
restituta), but by historians as the beginning of the Imperial or 
monarchical rule (Tac, Hut., i. 1). There was all the outward 
appearance of a republic ; the usual ofScials were elected in the 
usual way ; Augustus was, in Rome apparently, only one of the 
consuls, and in the provinces invested for a specific period with 
special powers, as others had been in former times. But the 
reality was utterly different, and practically every wish of 
Augustus was law. 

In 26 Augustus set out for Spain to carry on a campaign 
against the Cantabri and Astures. In the next year the war was 
brought to a close successfully (Hor , Od., iii. 8. 21 ; iii, 14. 3), 
and the temple of Janus was again closed. It was not till 
20 B.C., however, that the Cantabri were finally crushed by 
Agrippa (Hor., Od., iv. 14. 41 ; Up., i. 12. 26). Augustus 
returned to Rome in 24 B.C. An expedition to Arabia Felix 
(Hor., Od., i. 29), undertaken in the previous year by Aelius 
Gallus, came to a disastrous termination. 

In 23 B.C. the principate was further developed into the form 
which it henceforth retained. On the 26th of June, Augustus 
resigned the consulship, retaining pro consule the special powers 

* Syria, the Gennanies, Pannonia (founded 10 a.d.), etc., by consulares; Gallia 
Lugudunensis, Lusitania, etc., by praetorii; but all had the same title, legatus 
Augusti pro praetore. 



Chap. XXXIX.] STEADY GROWTH OF IMPERIAL POWER. 341 

in the provinces which had been conferred upon him in 27 
for ten years. But special acts of the senate restored to him in 
a new form all the power which the consulship hitherto con- 
ferred on him. By strict law his proconsular authority ceased 
if he entered Rome, but he was exempted from this rule ; he 
retained all the consular insignia, together with the power of 
issuing edicts, and holding meetings of the senate,* and he 
ranked as equal in all respects with the actual consuls of the 
year. The appearance of republican equality was seriously 
strained by these powers; and it was, perhaps, to counteract 
this that Augustus now began to lay more stress on his position 
as Champion of the Commons. He had held tribunicia potestas 
since 36 ; but from 23 he began to use it as an official title, 
adding in succeeding years a number to indicate the annual 
repetitions of this power. From henceforth every Roman 
emperor counted the years of his reign as the years during 
which he had been Champion of the Commons ; and 23 B.C., 
therefore, may most suitably be reckoned as the first year of 
the fully formed empire. The theory always continued that 
the Imperial power was granted by a special and voluntary act 
of the Roman people (acting through the senate) to an individual, 
and did not descend. 

Naturally, the permanence of Augustus, beside the rapidly 
changing series of consuls, made the imperial power grow steadily 
by insensible steps and often without any express enactment. 
The people became more accustomed to " slavery " (as those 
called it who, like Tacitus,t pretended to sigh for a republic), 
and the emperors to command. As a rule, the people pressed 
upon Augustus far larger powers than he was willing to accept. 

In B.C. 22, during a famine, Augustus undertook the duty of 
superintending the corn-supply of Rome (ctira annonae). and 
this duty always continued the most pressing necessity of the 
empire. The vast populace of Rome must be fed, whatever 
happened, or its discontent was likely to overturn the emperor. 
Egypt, the granary of Rome, was kept under the immediate 
personal ct)ntrol of the emperor ami his jf^amilia ; and after 6 a.d. 
a praefedus annonae was appointed to direct the importation. 

* This last power he accepted in 22, when the people pressed on him a 
permanent dictatorship and consulship. •> 

t Cf. Bist., i. 1. 



842 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXIX. 

Similarly the water-supply, the prevention of fire, the order 
of the city, and the management of the public roads, were 
trusted to the emperor, and committed by him to special 
officials. 

In 22 Fannius Caepio and Licinius Murena * were condemned 
on a charge of conspiracy, but the facts are very obscure. 
Maecenas, brother-in-law of Murena, and hitherto Augustus's 
principal minister in Rome (Hor., Od., iii. 8. 17), lost much of 
his influence henceforth at court. Though he accepted no 
public office (honos), his diplomacy had aided Octavian as much 
as the military genius of Agrippa ; he was mainly instrumental 
in attaching the gi'eat Roman writers to the party, and his 
liberality has made his name that of the typical patron of 
literature in all subsequent time. He lived in half retirement 
till his death in 8 B.C. Late in 21 Augustus went to regulate 
the East anew (21-19). Tiberius, his stepson, followed him by 
land with an army in 20 (Hor., Ep., i. 3). The mere show of 
power induced Phraates, the Parthian king, to restore the 
standards captured at Carrhae in 53, an event celebrated by 
the poets (Hor., Ep., i. 12. 27). 

In 22 the last two censors of the old style had held office. 
In 13 Augustus declined a wide authority tendered to him as 
regimen legum et morum ; but in practice he exercised it (Hor., 
Ocl, iv. 5. 22 ; Ep., ii. 1. 1 ; Ovid, Met., xv. 832 ; TrisL, ii. 
233 ; Suet., Aug., 27 ; Dion., liv. 10), passing in 18 and 17 the 
great body of the Leges Juliae, and attempting to reform society 
and religion. He restored many old Roman cults, which had 
sunk into disuse, and rebuilt more than 80 temples. He passed 
laws intended to check extravagance and licentiousness, and to 
encourage marriage and the old Roman family life. The celebra- 
tion of the Ludi Saeculares in 17 was intended as the crowning 
step in this process, when literature and piety united to mark 
the inaugm-ation of a new age for the Roman state. Horace 
wrote the official hymn for the occasion, the Carmen Saeculare. 

In 16-13 Augustus visited Gaul (Hor., Od., iv. 2. 33,; iv. 5) ; 
and the regulation of the north-western frontier now engaged 
his attention. At first he aimed at fixing the limit at the line of 
the Elbe and Danube. His great general Agrippa (who had 

* The latter is mentioned in Hor., Od., ii. 10, and iii. 19 (published in 23 before 
the conspiracy). 



Chap. XXXIX.] SECURING THE SUCCESSION. 343 

married his daughter Julia in 21) was in charge of the eastern 
frontier countries, 16-13 B.C.; and the northern wars were 
trusted to his stepsons Tiberius and Drusus. They conquered 
the tribes of TjtoI, Ehaeti, VindeUci and Norici in 15 ; and 
in 14-13 the hitherto dreaded Alpine tribes were pacified, and 
roads built. In 12-9 Tiberius reduced Pannonia, and Drusus 
fought in Germany. The death of the latter brought Tiberius to 
undertake the German war, 9-6 ; but his retirement interrupted 
the work. Agrippa had died in 12 ; and Augustus could not 
allow any general outside the family to gain renown, and 
endanger the dynastic succession. Tiberius returned to Germany 
4 A.D., but the revolt of Pannonia called him there, 6-9. In 
A.D. 9 Arminius, who had instigated a revolt in north-west 
Germany, attacked P. Quintilius Varus, the governor of Germany, 
while he was marching through a pass in the Saltus Teuto- 
burgiensis, and annihilated his force, which consisted of three 
legions. This disaster caused the greatest consternation at 
Rome, and was a severe blow to the aged Emperor, who was 
often heard to exclaim, " Vare, Vare, redde legiones ! " Tiberius 
resumed the German command, 10-13. Germanicus, son of his 
dead brother, succeeded him, 13-16 ; but the jealousy of Tiberius 
recalled him in 17 ; the dream of an Elbe frontier was abandoned, 
and the much longer Rhine-Danube frontier was substituted. 

The later years of Augustus's life were uneventful. In 12 B.C. 
he succeeded Lepidus as Pontifex Maximus ; and this office 
thenceforward was imperial, marking the emperors as heads 
of the state-religion. In 9-8 B.C. the management of the city 
was reorganized ; it was divided into districts ; magistri-vicorum 
were instituted, and festivals called compitalia in honour of the 
Lares Publici and Augustus were held. This was the greatest 
concession which Augustus made in Italy to the popular desire 
to worship him. In 2 B.C. the title paier patriae was conferred 
on him. 

The question of a successor had long troubled Augustus, and 
determined much of his domestic policy. His only child was 
Julia, born in 39, daughter of his second wife Scribonia. M. 
Marcellus, the popular and promising son of his sister Octavia, 
was destined to succeed him, and had married Julia in 25 (Hor., 
Od., i. 12) ; but his death in 23 (Virg., Aen.^yl 867-886) ruined 
the plan, and Agrippa was then selected, and made to divorce 



344 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXIX 

his wife Marcella and to marry Julia in 21. The elder sons of 
this marriage, Gains and Lucius, were early introduced to the 
people, and pushed forward in the career of office ; but Lucius 
died in 2 a.d., and Gaius in 4 a.d. Agrippa Postumus, born 
after Agrippa's death in 12, was adopted by Augustus in 4 a.d., 
but banished for misconduct in 7. 

In 39 B.C. Augustus divorced Scribonia, and in 38 married 
Livia Drusilla, taking her from her husband, Claudius Nero. 
She bore Augustus no children, and her aim was to secure the 
succession for her two able sons by her previous marriage, 
Tiberius Claudius Nero and Nero Claudius Drusus. "When 
Agrippa died in 12, Tiberius succeeded to his place, divorced his 
wife Vipsania, married Julia in 11, and received the tribunician 
authority in 6. But the death of Drusus in 9, and the retirement 
of Tiberius to Rhodes 6 b.c. to 2 a.d., left the way open for the 
young sons of Agrippa. Once more the disgraceful conduct of 
Julia (exiled in 2 B.C. to Paiidataria) and the deaths of Gaius 
and Lucius Caesar, restored Livia's influence. Tiberius was 
adopted along with Agrippa Postumus (posthumous son of 
Agrippa and Julia) in 4 a.d. ; the tribunician power was 
restored to him in 4 a.d. ; Agrippa was exiled to Planasia in 7. 
In 11 or 12 Tiberius was appointed colleague of Augustus in the 
provinces, but not in Italy. 

Augustus died on the 19th of August, 14 a.d., having been 
thirteen times consul, twenty-one times saluted imperator, in his 
37th year of tribunician power. 

Tiberius. — Tiberius Claudius Nero reigned under the name 
Tiberius Caesar, Divi Augusti Filius, Augustus. His noble 
descent and distinguished services justified the choice which 
Augustus had made of his successor ; but the death of the first 
emperor was a critical moment in the history of the empire. In 
theory the imperial power was merely a personal and temporary 
gift made by the sovereign people to Augustus, who could not 
bequeath it to any successor. No provision existed in the 
imperial constitution for regulating the succession. Augustus 
had shrunk from making any provision which would savour of 
monarchical and dynastic rule ; and, while he informally made 
such arrangements as might facilitate the path of his chosen 
successor, yet he fully recognized the danger that some other 
prominent noble might attract the popular eye and grasp at the 




Map showing the extent of the 

ROMAN EMPIRE, 

during the latter years of Augustus. 

Senatorial Provinces shaded. «^^^**^ 

REGNUM HERODIS as before 4 B.C: other hingdoms ana Imperatoriat 
Provinces as at the death of Augustus Britannia added bij Claudius & 
successors. Cappadocia by Tiberius. Mauretania & Thracia by Clauaius. 
Regnum Polemonis by Nero. Dacia & Arabia by Trajan.. 

A'LP'ES:-(M=Maritime, C^Cottiae. G.P.= Graiae et Penninae) 




NlsCoN^A 

p- ; iiif.i! 



'H-'aiker & BoiUall sc. 

To face p. 314. 



Chap. XXXIX.] POLICY OF TIBERIUS. 345 

reins of power. But the practised skill of Tiberius, long used 
both to administration and to palace intrigue, supported by the 
devotion of his mother, the Empress Livia, surmounted success- 
fully the difficulties of the interval between the lapsing of the 
powers entrusted to Augustus and the fresh delegation of similar 
powers to the new emperor. The possible rivals against whom 
Augustus had warned him made no attempt to compete with 
him. But the army, on whose support ultimately the govern- 
ment rested, was not so easily won over. The soldiers had 
already shown signs of discontent with the strict terms of 
military service ; and they were not disposed quietly to permit 
these terms to become permanent under a new monarch. 
Mutinies broke out in the two great frontier armies of Pannonia 
and Germany. But the soldiers had no serious hostility to the 
new emperor ; and readily accepted vague promises of amending 
the terms of service, made by Drusus, son of Tiberius, in 
Pannonia, and by Germanicus his nephew, in Germany. 

The election of magistrates was entrusted by Tiberius to the 
senate, and the popular assemblies {comitia) were discontinued. 
The outward show of political life and freedom, left by Augustus, 
was thus discontinued, and political career was henceforth, in 
form as well as in fact, dependent on imperial favour. Vague 
discontent and hostility to the empire were always smouldering 
among the old nobility ; and this came to a head in the con- 
spiracy of Libo Drusus, 16 a.d., which ended in his suicide 
before it was really organized, and was so futile as to be doubted 
by manJ^ 

The empty result of the German wars has been alluded to 
above. In 14 Germanicus led the repentant legions of the 
German army against the Maisi, whom he defeated. He con- 
tinued the war for the next two years, and vanquished Arminius, 
but was recalled in 17, and celebrated a triumph. In the same 
year Germanicus was sent to the East, to set in order the 
provinces beyond the Hellespont. He settled the affairs of 
Armenia, and made terms with Parthia, but died suddenly at 
Antioch in 19. It was suspected by all, and beheved by 
Germanicus on his death-bed, that his death was due to poison 
administered at the instance of On. Calpurnius Piso, governor 
of Syria, who, people said, had been sent out by the emperor to 
be a spy and a check on him, and who had been on notoriously 



346 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXIX. 

bad terms with him. Piso, on his return to Rome, was put on 
his trial, and condemned for disobedience to his superior officer. 
Germanicus ; but the charge of poisoning broke down, and there 
is no reason to beheve tliat it was true. 

From 17 to 24 a.d. a war was carried on against the 
Numidian Tacfarinas by Junius Blaesus,* and afterwards by 
P. Dolabella. It ended with the defeat of Tacfarinas. An 
insurrection in Gaul under Julius Floras and Julius Sacrovir 
(21 A.D.) was crushed by C. Silius, and risings in Thrace in 19 
and 25 were put down, the latter by Poppaeus Sabinus. The 
Frisii in North Germany revolted in 28, but the Komans were 
not successful in crushing them. 

It was in Tiberius's reign that the volunteer prosecutors 
[delatores) f began to exercise unbounded influence. The 
definition of treason (maiestas) had been so widened as to 
include many ofiences not originally contemplated as coming 
under the law, and any insulting speech or writing against the 
emperor was enough to secure the conviction of the author. 
Tiberius made some attempts to limit the application of the law, 
but finally countenanced the delatores, owing to the influence of 
Sejanus, his powerful favourite, and many noble famiHes were 
thus brought to ruin. 

Aelius Sejanus,t an eques of Etruscan descent, and prefect of 
the praetorian guards, had steadily increased his influence with 
Tiberius, and had formed the ambitious design of becoming his 
successor. He first intrigued with Livilla, wife of Drusus, son 
of Tiberius, and having with her connivance compassed Drusus's 
death in 23 a.d., he vainly sought permission to marry her. In 
26 the emperor left Eome for ever, and next year retired to 
Capreae, a small island off Campania, and Sejanus was left more 
free to prosecute his designs. After the death of the emperor's 
mother, Livia, in 29, Sejanus succeeded in getting Agrippina, 
widow of Germanicus, with her sons Nero and Drusus, banished. 
Tiberius, however, now began to suspect Sejanus's designs, and 
resolved to bring about his downfall. To conceal his intentions 

* Blaesus was saluted "imperator " by the troops ; the last occa'ion when this 
was permitted to any but the emperor. 

t As no state prosecutor existed in Rome, it was left to private persons to take 
the initiative in prosecuting criminal charges ; but such persons, though never 
popular(Hor., Sat., i. 4, 65-68), now began to he a terror and a danger to innocent 
as well as guilty. 

X His career is sketched by Juvenal, 10. 56-107. 



Chap. XXXIX. J TIBERIUS'S LATER YEARS. 347 

he loaded Sejanus with honours, made him joint consul with 
himself, and at the same time sent Macro to supersede him. 
Sejanus was condemned to death by the senate, and executed 
in 31 amidst the execrations of the people. In 33 Agrippina 
committed suicide after the murder of her son Drusus. 

The later years of Tiberius's life were spent in almost unbroken 
retirement at Capreae. Little was known in Eome as to his 
way of living on the island, and the licence and foulness of 
Roman scandal vented its dislike for the morose and unapproach- 
able emperor in inventing or reporting a scandalous chronicle 
of Capreae, which has made this period a proverb for vice of 
the most hideous kind. What was truth and what mere malice 
in these reports, we cannot tell and need not inquire ; but the 
tales that cling round a historical figure are usually an index 
of his character. It is remarkable that one whose early career 
was so brilliant, whose talents were so great, and whose conduct 
at first so good, should sink at last into a proverb of infamy ; 
and the 'improbability of such a metamorphosis has led some 
modern writers to air the theory that Tacitus and Suetonius 
have mistaken false and groundless scandal for real history. It 
is indeed true that Tacitus was bitterly prejudiced against the 
early emperors, but his trustworthiness cannot be depreciated 
so low as this theory would suppose. In happier circumstances, 
Tiberius might have been a great man ; but, when set free from 
all restraining influences, the faults of his nature, pride, coldness, 
and suspicion, corrupted all that was good in him. 

Tiberius died on the 16th of March, 37 a.d. He was suc- 
ceeded by his grandnephew, Gains Caesar, surnamed Caligula 
(" Little Boots ") by the soldiers from the soldier's boots (caligae) 
which he used to wear as a boy. 

Caligula. — The reign of Grains began well, and an era of 
peace was expected. He abolished the right of appeal from 
magistrates to himself, restored the comitia* promised the senate 
to govern constitutionally, and discouraged the delatores. At 
the end of eight months, probably through the influence of 
Herod Agrippa, he plunged into a wild career of revelry and 
debauchery, and attempted to play the Eastern potentate. He 
put to death his cousin, Tiberius G-emellus, who, along with 
himself, was the heir of the late emperor. His claim to be 
* The restoration was not permanent. 



348 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap, XXXIX. 

worshipped as a god caused riots among the Jews, both in Judaea 
and Alexandria. His mad career exhausted the coffers of the 
state, and led to exactions in Italy and in Gaul, where he went 
in 40. His expedition there and to Germany has been travestied 
by ancient writers. According to them, he went as far as 
Boulogne, and, after making his army fill their helmets with 
shells, returned to Rome. But there can be no doubt that the 
expedition was undertaken with a view to crush the conspiracy 
in which it was believed that Cn. Lentulus, governor of Upper 
Germany for ten years, had engaged against Caligula ; and the 
completeness of its success exposed it to the charge of being 
an empty parade. Lentulus, though a great favourite with the 
soldiers, was put to death, and great changes were made in the 
disposition of the disaffected troops. 

The sudden change of Gaius's life from the unceasing danger 
and wearing anxiety of his position under Tiberius as probable 
heir, liable at any moment from freak or suspicion to be slain by 
the jealous tyrant, to the unbridled freedom of an emperor, was 
more than his intellect could stand. The freaks and caprices 
that are recorded reveal a monomania, which revelled in un- 
restrained power. He delighted to be treated as a god, and to 
heap insults on the nobles of Rome. He wished that all Rome 
had one neck, to be cut at a blow. On the 24th of January, 41, 
he perished by a conspiracy among a few of his personal 
attendants, who were in constant terror that they might at any 
moment be ordered to death. Ranging the palace after his 
assassination, the soldiers found his uncle, Tiberius Claudius 
Drusus Germanicus, a man of fifty, conceahng himself in terror 
for his life. One of the soldiers, in jest, saluted the cowering 
wretch as emperor, and the grim joke was carried into real 
earnest by his comrades. 

Claudius had been looked upon as unfit for statesmanship, 
and had given his leisure hours to letters. He annulled the 
acts of Gaius and modelled his statecraft on that of Augustus. 
Many useful reforms were passed, albeit they often savoured of 
pedantry. He purified the senate, and attended personally to 
the administration of justice. He completed the Aqua Claudia, 
an aqueduct which had been left unfinished by Gaius, built the^ 
port of Ostia, and drained Lake Fucinus. 

Whereas Tiberius had made a principle of carrying out 



Chap. XXXIX.] NERO SUCCEEDS CLAUDIUS. 349 

Augustus's provincial administration with the least possible 
change, and Gaius had treated it with indifference, Claudius paid 
great attention to it, and made a number of changes, especially 
in the East. Mauretania was annexed and divided into two 
provinces ; Thrace was made a province ; Mithridates, king of 
Armenia, was brought a prisoner to Rome ; the kingdom of 
Herod was restored in Judaea ; the kingdoms of Polemon in 
Pontus and of Antiochus in Cilicia, Lycaonia, and Commagene 
were consolidated ; the franchise was freely extended throughout 
the empire, and the political rights of the Gauls were increased. 

The most important foreign event of the reign was the 
conquest of the south and south-west parts of Britain. In 43, 
preceded by his general Aulus Plautius, Claudius invaded the 
country in person, remaining only sixteen days, and leaving the 
work of consolidation and extension of the conquest to be carried 
on by Plautius from 43 to 47, and by P. Ostorius Scapula from 47 
to 52. The last-named conquered the British prince Caractacus. 

Claudius's first wife after his accession was Messalina, who, 
abetted by his freedmen. Narcissus, Pallas, and others, caused 
great oppression of the nobles. Messalina formed, in 48, the 
scheme of contriving the accession of C. Silius, a noble with 
whom she actually went through the form (f marriage; but 
here the freedmen stepped in and secured the ruin of the guilty 
pair. Next year Claudius married his niece Agrippina the 
younger. She set herself to win power in every way, and 
induced Claudius to adopt her son L. Domitius Ahenobarbus 
(called Nero after his adoption), to the detriment of his own son 
Britannicus. Claudius might have revoked this step, but died 
on the 13th of October, 54 A.D., so conveniently for her schemes 
that he was universally believed to have been poisoned by her. 

Nero. — The first years of Nero's reign were marked by a 
contest between Seneca his tutor and Burrus the prefect of the 
praetorian guards on the one hand and his mother Agrippina on 
the other. Agrippina received a check in the dismission of the 
freedman Pallas, and in revenge she espoused the cause of 
Claudius's son Britannicus, whereupon Nero caused Britannicus 
to be poisoned (55). Seneca and Burrus managed the state 
well, but allowed Nero to pursue a course of dissipation. He 
formed a liaison with Poppaea, wife of Otho, the future emperor, 
and she induced him to put his mother to death (59). In 62 



350 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXIX. 

Burrus died, and Seneca retired from public affairs. Nero 
divorced Octavia, and married Poppaea, who, along with the 
praetorian prefect Tigellinus, exerted great influence over the 
emperor. In 64 occurred the great fire at Rome, and Nero was 
accused by his contemporaries of having caused it, though there 
is no sure evidence that he had anything to do with it.* To 
divert popular clamour, the Christians were charged with the 
deed, and many were put to death with cruel tortures. In 65 
a conspiracy to dethrone Nero was formed under the leadership 
of C. Calpurnius Piso, and its discovery was followed by many 
executions, including those of Seneca and the poet Lucan. In 
66 Nero visited Greece, and restored its freedom to the country. 
While there he continued the scenic exhibitions which had 
already done so much in Italy to bring him into contempt. 
Reports of disaffection in the West recalled him to Rome. On 
his return in March, 68, he heard that Gaul had revolted under 
Julius Vindex, and that Servius Sulpicius Galba had taken arms 
against him in Spain. Tlie first insurrection was crushed by 
Verginius Rufus, who refused the empire offered him by his 
victorious troops, but the news of Galba's action threw Nero 
into a panic, and he committed suicide on the 9th of June, 68. 

The chief foreign events of the reign were the successes of 
Domitius Corbulo in Armenia from 58 to Q6, and the insurrection 
in Judaea, which began in 66. In 61 Suetonius Paulinus put 
down a revolt of the Iceni in Britain under their queen Boudicca 
or Boadicea. The provincial administration, especially daring 
the first half of the reign, was vigorous and successful. 

Galea, who had been saluted as imperator by the soldiers, 
and had declared himself " lieutenant of the senate arid people," 
was proclaimed emperor immediately on Nero's death, and 
marched for Rome. An attempt by Nymphidius Sabinus, the 
praetorian prefect, to seize the throne, was put down. Galba 
alienated his supporters by his policy in Gaul, by his meanness 
(as they called his efforts to retrench, necessitated by Nero's 
ruinous extravagance), by his severity, and by the fact that he 
spared Tigellinus, the hated favourite of Nero. In the beginning 
of 69 he adopted Piso Licinianus as his associate in the 
principate. M. Salvius Otho, who had expected this honour, 

* It is a fancy of some modern authorities that Nero caused the fire in order to 
destroy the narrow ill-built streets of old Rome, and to rebuild them better, taking 
all care to prevent loss of life from fire and from starvation. 



Chap. XXXIX.] YITELLIUS AND VESPASIAN. 351 

raised a mutiny among the praetorian guards, who saluted him 
as imperator. Galba and Piso attempted to quell the riot that 
ensued, but were put to death in the Forum on the 15th of 
January, 69. 

Otho and Vitellius. — Meanwhile the legions of Lower 
Germany had revolted against Galba, and hailed A. Vitellius as 
imperator. Otho on his succession sent Vitellius overtures of 
peace, promising him an honourable retreat if he would retire 
from the contest, but these terms were rejected. Vitellius sent 
A. Caecina and Fabius Valens on before him to Italy, and they, 
after some indecisive fighting, effected a junction, and finally 
defeated Otho's army near Betriacum, between Cremona and 
Mantua. On the 19th of April Otho in consequence committed 
suicide, and Vitellius came to the throne. Vitellius was met at 
Lugudunum by Valens and Caecina. On coming to Eome he 
conducted the government with comparative mildness, but the 
real power lay with his two generals, vpho encouraged his 
extravagance. 

Meanwhile the armies in the East looked about for an emperor 
of their own. C. Licinius Mucianus, legatus of Syria, refused 
the proffered honour, and the choice fell upon T. Flavius 
Vespasianus, legatus of Judaea, who was loyally supported by 
Mucianus. Vespasian, who had greatly distinguished himself 
as the lieutenant of A. Plautius by the conquest of the Isle of 
Wight and the southern portion of Britain, was proclaimed 
emperor at Alexandria on the 1st of July, 69, and it was decided 
that he should hold Egypt, while Mucianus should march west. 
Before Mucianus could arrive, Antonius Primus, legatus com- 
manding the seventh legion, who had embraced the cause of 
Vespasian, hurried to Italy, met Caecina, and induced him to- 
desert Vitellius. Primus defeated the Vitellians at Betriacum, 
marched on Eome before Valens could come north to oppose 
him, and finally crushed Vitellius at Rome. This made the way 
clear for Vespasian. In the troubles connected with the capture 
of Rome, the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol was burned about 
the 20th of December, 69. 

There was also trouble in the North-west. In 69 Julius 
Civilis induced his countrymen, the Batavi, to revolt fi'om Vitellius 
and take up arms for Vespasian. The revolt spread, and he 
was able to blockade the Roman army in Vetera (the modern 



952 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXIX. 

Xanten). On the death of Vitellius, Civilis made no secret that 
he was fighting against Eorae ; and his coadjutors, Juhus Clas- 
sicus and Juhus Tutor, proclaimed an " Imperium GalHarum," 
to which many of the Roman soldiers swore allegiance. In 
70 Civilis, after some successes, was defeated by Petilius Cerealis, 
and contrived to make terms for himself. His later history is 
unknown. 

Vespasian, the first of the Flavian line, a man of very humble 
origin, came to Rome in the summer of 70. He had in the 
spring renewed the operations against the Jews, which had been 
dropped during the difficulties of the preceding year. His son 
Titus was sent against Jerusalem, which he took after an 
obstinate resistance on the part of the inhabitants, and levelled 
with the ground. Judaea was made a Roman province ; and 
in 71 the temple of Janus was closed. A new temple was 
built to Jupiter Capitolinus in 70, and in the next few years 
many new public buildings, including a temple to Peace (75), 
were created. The emperor set about retrenching expenditure, 
carrying out with better judgment the economical policy of 
Galba, and adding to the taxes, so as to put the finances on a 
sound basis. He treated the senate respectfully, but curtailed 
its powers. He discouraged trials for maiestas, but did not allow 
the delatores to be prosecuted. 

Provincial administration was vigorously managed by Vespa- 
sian. He conferred Latin rights (an incomplete form of Roman 
citizenship) on all the municipia of Spain (74 a.d.), and on 
the Helvetii. He organized and enlarged the united province 
Lycia-Pamphylia ; and incorporated the kingdom of Antiochus in 
the empire, repelled a Parthian invasion in 77, strengthened 
the defences on the Danube, and continued the conquest of 
Britain. 

Vespasian died on the 23rd of July, 79, and was succeeded by 
his son Titus, who had since the 1st of July, 71, been associated 
with him in managing the empire, and counted the years of his 
reign from that date. 

Titus reigned from 79 to 81. He courted popularity, freely 
squandered what his father had saved, and prosecuted the 
delatores. He ordered no senator to execution, and his death 
was universally regretted. In 79 occurred the great eruption 
of Vesuvius which buried Pompeii and Herculaneum, and in 



Chap. XXXIX.] DOMITIAN, 353 

80 the new temple of Jupiter Capitolinus and other public 
buildings were burned. In 80 the Flavian amphitheatre, which 
in its half-ruinous condition is now called the Coliseum, was 
dedicated with games of extraordinary magnificence. Titus 
died on the 13th of September, 81. 

DoMiTiA2«', the younger son of Vespasia-n, succeeded his 
brother. In 83 he led a campaign against the Chatti, and 
- assumed the title of Germanicus. After this war Domitian set 
himself to break down the power of the senate, by assuming the 
censorship for life, by causing himself to be designated consul 
for ten years in 84, and by assuming the power of life and death 
over the senate. Cn. Julius Agricola, who had taken the 
command in Britain in 78, defeated the Caledonian chief 
Calgacus in the battle of Mount Graupius in 84. He was 
recalled next year by Domitian. In 85 Decebalus, King of 
Dacia, who had formed the ambitious scheme of founding a 
great military state, attacked Moesia successfully. In 86 this 
defeat was retrieved by Juhanus ; but the emperor thought it 
best to make terms with Decebalus, on account of trouble with 
the Suevic peoples, who would have been only too ready to join 
arms with the Dacians. Decebalus was accordingly recognized 
as king under the lordship of Rome. Domitian celebrated a 
triumph in 89. In 92 he was for eight months in the field 
against the Suevic nations and their Sarmatian allies, the 
lazyges. Many reverses were sustained, and the war was con- 
tinued into the next reign. In 88 the revolt of L. Antonius 
Saturninus, governor of Upper Germany, which was suppressed 
by Norbanus, turned Domitian into a cruel tyrant. The delatores 
flourished again, and many prominent citizens were put to death. 
The emperor, however, managed public affairs well. He strove 
to put down Eastern effeminacy, and to revive the morality and 
religion of the republic, and was careful in his choice of pro- 
vincial governors. Domitian met his death, not from the senate 
whom he feared, but from his own household. The Empress 
Domitia, whom he had divorced but recalled, formed a plot 
against him, and on the 18th of September, 96, he ieli by the 
hand of a freedman called Stephanus. Thus perished the last 
of the Flavian dynasty. 

Under the Flavian dynasty the policy was begun of treating 
Christians as outlaws, liable to death on confession of the name; 

2 a 



354 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XXXIX. 

and the persecution by Domitian is printed deep on the memory 
of history, though few facts ai'e recorded. It would appear that 
Christianity spread among the higher classes in Rome, and 
affected even the Emperor's family. The Flavian policy towards 
the Christians was continued by later emperors in theory, 
though in practice it was carried out only occasionally in active 
persecution. 

Nerva. — M. Cocceius Nerva was elected emperor by the 
senate. He took an oath to put no senator to death, and con- 
sulted the senate in everything. Great attention was paid to 
Italy, and comparatively little to the provinces. The praetorians 
demanded the execution of Domitian's murderers, and Nerva 
was forced to comply. This decided him to adopt a consort, 
and his choice fell on M. Ulpius Trajanus, legatus of Upper 
Germany, and a native of Spain. The adoption took place 
on the 27th of October, 97, while Trajan was still in Germany. 
Nerva died on the 25th of January, 98. 

Tkajaut ranks among the most vigorous and the greatest of 
the emperors. He spent the summer of 98 in Germany, and the 
next winter on the Danube, making preparations for a Dacian 
war. In the beginning of 99 he came to Rome, where he re- 
mained two years. Early in 101 he started for Dacia, and after 
two campaigns, in the course of which he captured the king's 
capital, Sarmizegethusa, he compelled Decebalus to accept his 
terms. Dacia, however, became a dependent state, having no 
power of making peace or war without the consent of Rome. 
The senate decreed to Trajan the title of Dacicus. Decebalus, 
however, again revolted, and in 104 Trajan again set out for 
Dacia. In 106 the war was brought to a close by the death of 
Decebalus, and Dacia was made a province. Trajan returned 
to Rome in 107, and celebrated a triumph. The native popula- 
tion of Dacia was mostly driven out, and the country was re- 
populated by colonists from all parts, especially from Asia Minor. 
In 106 Arabia Petraea was formed into a province by the 
governor of Syria, Cornelius Palraa. 

During the next eight years Trajan was at Rome. He treated 
the senate with marked respect, but at the same time did not 
enlarge its prerogatives. His own powers were increased by 
his creating new patricians, and by the appointment of a curator 
rei ipuUicae to control the aflairs of the Italian towns and the 



Chap. XXXIX.] TRAJAN'S SUCCESSES. 355 

free cities abroad. His success in finance was great, and was 
due partly to the economj' of his court, and partly to the wealth 
accruino; from the Dacian mines. The condition of slaves was 
made harder. Special attention was given to increasing the 
population and improving: the agriculture of Italy. Many new 
buildings were erected in Italy and at Rome, notably the Forum 
Ul^^ianum. Trajan was very liberal in making new roads in 
the provinces, and sent special commissioners to several senatorial 
provinces. Thus Pliny was sent to Bithynia, and the corre- 
spondence between him and Trajan, which is extant, shows how 
closely Trajan directed affairs in this province. In 112 Trajan 
issued a famous rescript forbidding hetaerlae of Christians in 
Bithynia. 

Chosroes, King of Parthia, had interfered in the affairs of 
Armenia by putting Parthoraasiris on the throne. Trajan re- 
solved to punish him for this illegal act, declared war on him, 
and left for the East in the end of 113. Chosroes sent an 
embassy to meet him at Athens, but the terms offered were not 
accepted, and Trajan pressed on to Antioch where he required 
Parthomasiris to lay his crown before him in 115. The Armenian 
king was then dismissed, but was shortl.y afterwards murdered, 
possibly with Trajan's connivance. While in Antioch, Trajan 
narrowly escaped with his life in the great earthquake of 115. 
In the same year he founded the new provinces of Mesopotamia 
and Adiabene, but these regions had soon to be reconquered. 
In 116 he sailed down the Euphrates, and took Ctesiphon, the 
Parthian capital. Chosroes fled, and the crown was given to 
his son Parthamaspates, as a client of Rome. Trajan had the 
title of Parthicus conferred on him. Meanwhile the Jews had 
revolted in Mesopotamia, Palestine, and other countries where 
they formed a large part of the population, and had to be put 
down with great slaughter. Trajan's presence was urgently 
required in the West, as difficulties had arisen with the Sarmatians, 
the Moors, and the Britons ; but he died on his homeward 
journey at Selinus, in Cilicia, in August, 117 a.d. 



356 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XL. 



CHAPTEE XL. 

THE EMPIRE FROM HADRIAN TO CONSTANTINE. 

Hadrian, the successor of Trajan, reigned from 117 to 138 
A.D. At the time of his accession revolts had broken out in 
various parts of the empire, and the Parthians were threatening 
its eastern territories, having gained several successes over 
the Eoman troops. Hadrian had served with Trajan in war 
and was the favourite of the army, but from the first he inclined 
to a policy of peace. He decided to give up the plan of carry- 
ing the Roman authority further eastward, and he came to 
terms with the Parthians, giving them the lands beyond the 
Euphrates. He devoted his entire reign to the improvement 
and adornment of the empire, and was most liberal in his 
patronage of the fine arts. In 119 he began a series of journeys 
throughout his dominions, and a large part of his reign was 
spent in this manner. He constructed many important public 
works in the course of his visits ; he beautified Rome by his 
Mausoleum and by his temple of Venus and Rome ; and he 
had a fine villa at Tibur. In Britain he began the great work 
known as Hadrian's Wall, reaching from the Solway to the 
Tyne. He restored discipline to the army, and did much to 
strengthen and consolidate the imperial power. Though occa- 
sionally cruel, he governed on the whole mildly and with wis- 
dom. Only one serious revolt occurred in his reign, that of 
the Jews in Palestine, who under the leadership of a fanatic 
made a fruitless attempt (131) to withstand the Roman power. 
The suppression of this revolt in 135 was followed by the 
death or dispersion of a vast number of the people. On the 
site of Jerusalem was built the Roman city of Aelia Capitolina) 
from which the Jews were excluded. 

The Two Antoninbs (138-180 a.d.). — Hadrian was suc- 
ceeded by his adopted sou, Antoninus Pius, whose reign was 



CHAP. XL.] THE ANTONINES. 357 

one of the most prosperous and peaceful in the history of the 
empire. The record is wholly one of internal improvement, 
such as the building of roads and bridges, the development of 
commerce, and the encouragement of literature and architec- 
ture. A kindly man and an able administrator, he is regarded 
as the best type of Roman emperor. 

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was the adopted son of Anto- 
ninus Pius, and succeeded on the latter's death in 161. He was 
among the best of Roman rulers, and the only one of whom it 
can be said that his fame woukl have been nearly as great as 
it is if he had never sat on the imperial throne. For it is as a 
philosopher rather than as a Roman emperor that he is best 
known. Yet his reign was distinguished both for military 
success and for good government. His army was victorious 
over the Parthians in the East ; and in the war against the 
German tribes nearer home, Marcus Aurelius took the field 
himself, with the result that the Marcomanni were driven 
across the Danube and compelled to sue for peace ; and another 
German tribe, the Quadi, were defeated in their own country. 
The effect of this and other successes was to bring the Germans 
to terms, and, for the time at least, to secure the northern fron- 
tier of the empire against their attacks. The Stoic philosophy 
had in him its finest example. He was brave, magnanimous, 
and prudent. He was an unremitting student, and possessed 
a remarkable range of accomplishments and learning. He had 
many of those virtues which we identify with Christianity, 
and yet he was one of the severest persecutors of the professors 
of»the Christian faith. This was due to the very consistency 
and earnestness of his character. He loved the heathen faith 
and the heathen philosophy. Being heart and soul in favor 
of the old system, he felt it his duty to check the encroach- 
ments of the new religion, which, it is said, was grossly mis- 
represented to him by its enemies. Like several others of the 
best and most conscientious emperors who construed their 
duties seriously, he regarded the Christians as a dangerous 
element in the state, and strove to extirpate them. 

A Century of Misrule (180-284 a.d.). — The century 
that followed the death of Marcus Aurelius was on the whole a 
period of confusion and misrule, and the reigns of the emperors 
were, with few exceptions, brief. Commodus (180-193 a.d.) 



358 HISTORY OF ROME. [chap. XL. 

is noted only for his vices and for the monstrous tyranny that 
he exercised. He gratified a natural love of slaughter by kill- 
ing wild beasts in the anipliitlieatre. Knowing that his sub- 
jects hated him, he was in constant fear of conspiracy and 
caused many to be put to deatli on groundless suspicions. He 
was finally murdered in his bedroom, by members of his own 
household who feared that his savage hatred would soon turn 
against themselves. " So easy was it," says Gibbon, " to destroy 
a hated tyrant who by the artificial powers of government had 
oppressed during thirteen years so many millions of subjects, 
each of whom was equal to their master in personal strength 
and personal abilities." His murderers now placed on the 
throne Pertinax, a man of unquestioned honesty of purpose, 
and secured the consent of the army to his succession. But 
Pertinax soon gave offence to the Praetorians (the emperor's 
body-guard of soldiers at Rome) by the strictness of his rule, and 
within less than three months from tlie death of his predecessor 
he was murdered by the soldiers. The throne was now virtually 
set up at auction by the Praetorians, and a rich senator, 
Didius Julianus, purchased the succession ; but the jsrovincial 
armies declared against him, each setting up its candidate. 
The general in command of the Pannonian army, SejDtimius 
Severus, promptly appeared in Rome at the head of his legions 
and compelled the Praetorians to accept him as emperor. 
Didius Julianus was dethroned and put to death in a little 
over two months from the date of his accession (193). Severus 
showed a high order of military skill in the civil wars that 
arose froni the claims of rival candidates for the throne, and 
within four years from his accession he had routed two armies, 
one in Asia Minor and the other in Gaul. He governed by iin- 
scrupulous methods, but with vigour and ability. He reorgan- 
ized the Praetorian guard, recruiting it from the legionaries on 
the frontier, by promoting from among them such as had dis- 
tinguished themselves for valour and efficiency. He turned 
the government, in fact, into a military despotism. 

From the death of Septimius Severus, in 211 a.d., to the 
accession of Diocletian, in 284, there were twenty-five em- 
perors, of whom all but three were murdered by the soldiers 
or at the instigation of rivals for the throne. Space is lacking 
for the detailed treatment of each of these brief reigns, but the 



Chap. XL.] A CENTURY OF MISEULE. 359 
subjoined table gives the important names and dates. Caracalla 

Caracalla..., )211-217 Valerian 253-260 

Geta...... 5211-212 Gallieiius 260-268 

Macrinus 217-218 Claudius 268-270 

Heliogabalus 218-222 Aurelian 270-275 

Alexander Severus . . 222-235 Tacitus 275-276 

Maximinus 235-238 Florianus 276 

GordianusIII... 238-244 Probus 276-282 

Philippus ... 244-249 Carus 282-283 

Decius 249-251 Carinus 

Gallus 251-253 Numerianus.. 



I 283-284 



and Geta, the two sons of Septimius Severus, succeeded him on 
the throne ; but their jealousy culminated in Caracalla's 
treacherous murder of his brother in 212. Caracalla's despotism 
was not redeemed by a single quality that could win the respect 
of his subjects, and he in turn was murdered as the result of a 
secret conspiracy which had been inspired by his own jealousy. 

Under Alexander Severus (222-235 a.d.) there was a return 
to decent and orderly government. He was a man of many 
accomplishments, but he showed an unwise lenity which 
tended to relax military discipline. The brief and unfortunate 
reign of Decius (249-251) is memorable for the successful 
invasion of the eastern provinces by the Goths. Encounter- 
ing but slight resistance from the Roman troops on the frontier, 
the Goths poured into Dacia and Moesia. Decius led an 
army against them, but was defeated and killed near a small 
town in Moesia. During the reigns of Valerian (253-260) 
and Gallienus (260-268) there arose a crowd of pretenders, 
sometimes termed the "thirty tyrants." They seized the 
power and held it for varying lengths of time and in different 
parts of the empire. In the reign of Gallienus, especially, 
the confusion resulting from this state of affairs reached its 
height. The central authority was reduced to a nullity, and 
the defence of the frontier had to be left to the legions them- 
selves, who naturally lost all sense of subordination to the 
authority at Eome. 

Among these provincial empires the most lasting were those 
in Gaul and Asia. Minor. The former was at one time ac- 
knowledged by the legions of Britain, Spain, and the Rhine. 
In Asia Minor the Prince of Palmyra made himself an inde- 
pendent sovereign, and his widow, the famous Zenobia, ruled 
over most of Asia Minor and even extended her authority to 



360 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XL. 

Egypt. The emperors Claudius (268-270 a.d.) and Aurelian 
(270-275) displayed more vigour in dealing with rebellion, and 
the latter succeeded in restoring unity to the empire. 

Diocletian (284-305 a.d.) removed the last traces of repub- 
lican limitations on the imperial power and turned the gov- 
ernment into an absolute monarchy. He abolished the old 
national distinctions and established a uniform system of ad- 
ministration, reducing Rome and Italy to the same level as 
the provinces. Rome was no longer the seat of government. 
All power was vested in the emperor alone, who now assumed 
something of the style of an Oriental despot. To secure a 
more efficient administration he associated another emperor 
with himself in the government, and these two rulers, or 
Augusti, had under them two Caesars. The empire was 
divided among the four rulers, but Diocletian claimed a higher 
authority than his three colleagues. During his reign this 
administrative machinery proved effective, owing chiefly to his 
own statesmanship ; but the division of power led to prolonged 
conflicts after his death. Diocletian's policy was to seek by 
every means to promote dissensions among the barbarians, and 
at the same time to strengthen the frontiers by fortifications. 
In these ends he was generally successful, and when the bar- 
barians did invade the provinces they were repulsed by the 
able commanders whom Diocletian selected for the different 
frontier posts. He carried on a successful war against the 
Persians, and extended the limits of the empire in the East. 
Toward the close of his reign he began the severest persecu- 
tion of the Christians that had yet been inflicted. He is said 
to have been instigated to do this by his colleagues, and to 
have been, at heart, in favour of toleration. On the other hand, 
some writers say that it was his practice, when carrying out a 
policy for which he thought he might be blamed, to profess to 
have acted on the advice of others. In 303 a.d. he issued a 
general edict of persecution, ordering the churches to be de- 
molished. Christian property to be confiscated, and all persons 
meeting for Christian worship to be put to death. These 
measures were carried out with the utmost rigour. In 305 
Diocletian formally abdicated, inducing the other Augustus, 
Maximian, to do so at the same time. The next eighteen years 
were for the most part taken up with conflicts between rival em- 



Chap. XL.] CONSTANTINE. 361 

perors. Coilstantine, after contending with his rivals for 
mastery for many years, finally became sole emperor (323). 

CoNSTANTiNE (306-337 A.D.) was the son of Constantius, 
who had become joint emperor with Galerius on the abdica- 
tion of Diocletian, and who died in Britain in 306. Constan- 
tine was chosen emperor by the Roman troops in Britain, but 
Galerius refused to acknowledge his title. Soon other claim- 
ants arose, and at one time there were six imperial rivals 
contending for the throne. In the course of the civil war that 
followed, Constantine made himself supreme in the West by 
the overthrow of one of his rivals (312), and soon afterwards 
Licinius became sole ruler of the eastern portion of the empire 
by the death of his competitors. War now broke out between 
Constantine and Licinius, and the latter, being worsted, ceded 
a part of his territory to his colleague. After an interval of 
several years, which Constantine employed in strengtheiiing 
the frontier and reforming abuses in the administration, war 
was renewed in 323, and Licinius was defeated and killed. 
Constantine was now sole ruler. The two chief events of his 
reign were the removal of the capital from Rome to Byzan- 
tium, henceforth called in his honour Constantinople, and the 
granting of toleration to Christianity. The former act was the 
natural outcome of the Orientalizing policy above noted. It 
left the western portion of the empire at the mercy of the bar- 
barians, and it had the further result of enhancing the power of 
the Roman bishops by withdrawing to a safe distance the over- 
shadowing authority of the imperial throne. The effect of 
Constantine's friendliness toward the Christians was to trans- 
form the empire into a Christian state. From being the 
religion of a persecuted sect, Christianity became the dominant 
religion of the civilized world. At the Council of Nice, in 
325, Constantine sided with orthodoxy against Arianism, 
though influenced by political rather than theological consid- 
erations. His whole attitude toward the church was, in fact, 
dictated by politic and not religious motives. The strength 
of the new faith rather than its righteousness appealed to him, 
and he continued outwardly to observe the pagan forms till a 
short time before his death, when he consented to be baptized. 
As an administrator he ranks high, and he worked for the 
welfare of his people ; but he was unscrupulous and cruel. 



362 HISTOKY OF ROME. [Chap. XLI. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS — THE DECLINE AND FALL 
OF THE EMPIRE (337-476 A.D.). 

The Sons of Constantine (337-361). — Before the death of 
Constantine he had parcelled out the empire among his three 
sons — Constantine, Constans, and Constantius. This division 
was not a definite dismemberment of the empire, and so it soon 
brought discord among the young princes. Constantine, the 
eldest, who was only twenty-one, was dissatisfied with his 
allotment, and sought to enlarge his dominion ; but he 
perished in his efforts to wrest some territory from Con- 
stans (340). Ten years later the latter met death at the hands 
of a traitor in his own camp — Magnentius, who received the 
name of Augustus from his followers and ruled in the place of 
Constans. IBut within three years Constantius had put down 
Magnentius, together with another officer, Vetranio, general in 
Illyricum, who had also been proclaimed Augustus. Thus the 
empire was once more united under one emperor. 

Of the relatives of Constantine, besides his sons, only two 
nephews had survived the general slaughter of the family after 
his death. Gallus had been made Caesar by Constantius, and 
placed in command of the East, whence he was soon recalled 
on the pretext that he was about to revolt. One year after his 
death (354), the surviving cousin, Julian, was assigned to the 
province of Gaul, with the title of Caesar. The retired scholastic 
education of Julian had left him in ignorance of the arts of war 
and government ; but the remarkable success of his arms and his 
wise and popular administration in that province aroused the 
jealous fears of Constantius, who ordered that the flower of his 
army should forthwith be withdrawn and sent to Persia. That 
order Julian's generals refused to carry out, for they recognized 
that it meant the undoing of their idolized leader. Instead of 
that they proclaimed him Augustus. Reluctantly accepting, 
nevertheless Julian acknowledged the supremacy of his cousin. 



Chap. XLI.] DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE. S63 

and at first refused to wage war against him. But the advance 
of Constantius soon left him no alternative, and he set out to 
meet this cousin. The death of the latter, however, and the 
immediate adherence of the empire, prevented civil war. 

Julian (361-363) received his apj^ellation of Apostate from 
the fact that he was not even nominally a Christian, as his 
predecessors since Constantine had been ; also from his attempt 
to restore pagan worship. While he entered into this work 
with enthusiasm, yet he forbade persecutions and extended to 
all the inhabitants of the Roman world free and equal tolera- 
tion. This attempted restoration had no more permanent 
effect than did his effort to correct the administrative abuses 
that had crept into the government under his weaker prede- 
cessors. From the point of view of the continued life of the 
empire, his vigourous defence of his province of Gaul against 
the inroads of the barbarians across the Rhine was of the ut- 
most importance. His expedition to Persia was at first suc- 
cessful, but it ended with his defeat and death. 

Division op the Empire (364). — The army at once pro- 
claimed Jovian, who soon made an ignominious peace with 
the Persians, by which five provinces of the empire lying be- 
yond the Tigris were surrendered. Jovian ruled only nine 
months, but he had sufficient time to reverse the religious 
policy of Julian and restore the Christian religion. On his 
death the army again made the choice of an emperor, and 
elected Valentinian. Within a month he bestowed the title 
of Augustus on his brother Valens. This marks the first 
division of the empire, Valentinian becoming emperor of the 
West, with his residence at Milan, while Valens ruled from 
Constantinople over the empire of the East. 

During his reign of eleven years (364-375) Valentinian 
repelled the attacks of invaders into his own dominion with a 
strong hand, and even helped the weaker Valens (364-378) to 
keep the Goths from crossing the Danube. But on the death 
of the elder brother, the Goths, now pressed from behind by 
the Huns, appealed to Valens to save them from their foes. 
Prudence gave way to flattered vanity, and he allowed about 
200,000 fighting men — that is, probably about 1,000,000 per- 
sons in all — to take up their abode in Moesia, inside the em- 
pire. But soon they became exasperated at the rapacity of 



364 HISTOEY OF ROME. [Chap. XLI. j 

their military governors and rose in revolt, and in the battle \ 

of Adrianople (378) they completely routed the Roman army, j 

two-thirds of which was destroyed. Valens was killed in the ; 

retreat, lUyricum was ravaged, and Constantinople itself was \ 

barely saved from capture. : 

Theodosius I (379-395). — In the West, Valentinian was i 
succeeded by his son Gratian (375-383), a youth of seventeen, 

who immediately associated with him his brother Valentinian ] 
II, a boy of five. But, more wisely, he soon recalled Theodo- 
sius, a skilful general, from Spain, and raised him to be his 

colleague and emperor of the East. This strong man was soon j 

able to secure, out of the lamentable condition to which affairs j 

in the East had fallen, a strong defence for the imperial power, ] 

He admitted many Goths into the Roman army, and gave j 

them the duty of defending the passage of the Danube. He j 

also gave them lands, stipulating that they should become ; 

permanent settlers. But most of his energies were required j 
to support the impotent rule of the boyish Western emperors 

and to defeat the successive pretenders. Gratian had been 1 

overthrown by Maxiraus, but when the usurper left Gaul and \ 

drove Valentinian II from Italy, Theodosius restored that prince | 

to this throne, with Arbogast, the Frank, who had recently '■ 

driven the Germans out of Gaul, as principal minister. After ; 

the departure of Theodosius, Arbogast made way with the ' 

youthful emperor, and had Eugenius, one of his creatures, pro- ! 

claimed emperor. In the battle of Aquileia (394) the tyrants j 

were overthrown. j 

Final Division of the Empire (395). — This victory of 

Theodosius over the usurper had made him master of the ' 

West, and reunited for the last time the whole of the Roman ■ 

world under one emperor. But this was quickly followed by ■ 

his death. As his end approached, he divided his empire be- ' 

tween his two sons, placing Arcadius, eighteen years of age, < 

over the East, and Honorius, eleven years old, over the West. ! 

The final overthrow of the empire as a Roman power was \ 

from this point only a question of time. Henceforth there was to | 
be very little cooperation, but more often jealousies, between the 
two divisions of the empire, the conflicting interests of which 
finally brought down upon them disastrous consequences. The 
supreme rule of the empire was still nominally in the hands of 



Chap. XLL] BARBARIANS IN POWER. 365 

the successors of the Caesars ; but the real power had forever 
departed from the degenerate sons of the Roman line, and 
hereafter was wielded by their barbarian ministers. Eufinus, 
the minister of Arcadius at Constantinople, was by birth a 
Goth, and Stilicho, the guardian of Honorius, was by descent 
a Vandal. That these oflBces were held by barbarians was not 
exceptional. The public service was being filled by Franks, 
the army was constantly recruited from the Goths, and 
thousands of barbarians had been welcomed as colonists within 
the confines of what was properly known as the empire. 

Having gained a foothold in court, in army, in vested terri- 
torial rights, and having seen that Roman administration was 
only a shell and no longer the mighty imperial power of the 
past, the barbarians did not long remain a subject race, but 
grasped at the highest benefits that Rome could bestow. By 
reason of the jealousies of the ministers of the two emperors, 
Eufinus lost his life through the cunning of Stilicho. De- 
prived of his powerful minister, Arcadius was induced to adopt 
a short-sighted policy with respect to Alaric, the chieftain of the 
Visigoths. Partly to save his own territory from immediate at- 
tack and partly from jealousy of Honorius, Arcadius connived 
at the invasion of Greece by Alaric, and then (396) made him 
master-general of Illyricum. Armed with Roman authority, 
he was, from his vantage-ground in Illyricum, easily able to 
swoop down on Italy. He had met defeat from the arms of 
Stilicho in Greece, but in 400 he crossed the Alps — not 
with his army only, but with all his people, including wives 
and families. This first invasion carried devastation into 
northern Italy, but was effectually checked by Stilicho, who 
defeated Alaric in the battle of Pollentia (403), and forced him 
to retire into Illyricum. 

The Sack of Rome (410). — Stilicho, whose talents had 
upheld the throne of Honorius for thirteen years, was ungrate- 
fully and unjustly sacrificed by his master only two years 
after he had again saved the empire from Radagaisus and his 
horde of Vandals and Goths (406). The second invasion by 
Alaric (408) was opposed by no such mighty hand. Having 
rid himself of his minister, Honorius proceeded to purge his 
army and the state of barbarians and heretics, and ordered a 
massacre of German hostages. At once 30,000 imperial sol- 



366 HISTOKY OF EOME. [Chap. XLI. 

diers joined Alaric ; these were soon recruited by 40,000 bar- 
barian slaves who had escaped from their masters. Almost 
unopposed, Alaric pushed on to Rome, and spared the city from 
siege only on the payment of an enormous ransom (408). But 
the emperor had not purchased his withdrawal from Italy. 
Alaric wanted lands for his people in Italy and a post for 
himself in the imperial army. When these were refused, he 
again marched on Eome ; but he still spared the city and 
allowed the citizens to choose Attalus, a Greek, as Augustus, 
with himself as commander-in-chief. Tiring at last of such 
trifling, he deposed Attalus, and failing once more in his 
efforts to negotiate with Honorius at Ravenna, he laid siege to 
Rome and carried away much plunder (410), but seems to 
have spared the lives of the citizens and not to have despoiled 
the churches. Alaric lived only two years after this, but 
before his death he had made himself master of nearly the 
whole peninsula. 

With Rome, the imperial city and the heart of the empire, 
pillaged by the barbarians, it is not strange that the more remote 
members of the empire should one by one be cut off by them. 
Adolf, the brother-in-law of Alaric, remained in Italy two 
years after the death of his predecessor, and even made a 
family alliance with Honorius, and fought against the Van- 
dals and Suevi in Spain. To his successor, Wallia (419), as 
king of the Visigoths, was granted a territory in southeastern 
Gaul, where the foundation of the Visigothic monarchy was 
laid. These Vandals against whom Adolf fought were a 
part of the same stream of emigration which under Radagaisus 
had invaded Italy in 406 and had been defeated by Stilicho. 
They then overran Gaul and passed south into Spain, whence 
the Roman power could not dislodge them. These German 
tribes nominally recognized the sovereignty of the Roman em- 
pire, but practically their settlement in Gaul and Spain meant 
the cutting off of those provinces from the empire. The Roman 
troops had been withdrawn from Britain in 409, and that 
province had chosen so-called emperors of its own. Usurpers 
had risen in Africa, and one of these. Count Heraclian (413), 
even invaded Italy, but was defeated. 

Honorius died in 423. The vacant throne was seized by 
John, the secretary of the late emperor. The latter main- 



Chap. XLI.1 THE EMPIRE CRUMBLES AWAY. 36? 

tainecl himself for two years ; but finally Theodosius II, em- 
peror of the East, succeeded in placing the nephew of Honorius 
on the throne. The reign of Valentinian III, a boy of six, 
lasted until 455, much of the time under the regency of his 
mother Placidia. The jealousy between Aetius, the Count of 
Italy, and Boniface, the Count of Africa, exposed the African 
province to invasion. By the consent of Boniface, if not by 
his actual invitation, the Vandals under Gaiseric (Genseric), 
their king, crossed over from Spain, eager for land and trea- 
sure, and quickly spread themselves over that province (429). 
Within ten years their possession of the country was ratified 
by a treaty with Rome, and one of the chief granaries of the 
empire had become a Vandal kingdom. 

The Defeat of the Huns. — One after another the Ger- 
manic peoples had been carving out from the Roman dominion 
territories in which they were erecting kingdoms. But with 
the onslaught of the nomadic, semi-barbarian, and altogether 
heathen Huns, they felt that their own safety was at stake. 
When Attila, the leader of the great horde, invaded Gaul, the 
Visigoths joined the Roman general Aetius, whom they had 
just been opposing, against the common foe. Other German 
troops joined the force of Aetius, who defeated Attila in the 
bloody battle of Chalons (451). This is regarded as one of the 
great " decisive battles " of the world's history, for it made the 
predominant power of Europe Teutonic rather than Tartar. 
The next year Attila, who had come to be known as "the 
scourge of God," invaded northern Italy, spreading desolation 
through the valley of the Po ; but he soon withdrew, at the 
request, it is said, of Pope Leo the Great, and died in 453. 

The reign of Maximus, who murdered Valentinian III, and 
ruled as his successor for three months (455), is remembered 
for the sack of Rome by the Vandals. Gaiseric had come at 
the request of Eudoxia, the widow of Valentinian and the un- 
willing wife of Maximus. In two weeks the Vandals carried 
away everything valuable on which they could lay their hands, 
but they do not seem to have done much damage to the build- 
ings. They carried away many Roman citizens as slaves. 

End op the Western Empire. — The list of weakling em- 
perors who occupied the throne of the Western Empire for its 
last twenty years is a dreary catalogue. What little real power 



368 HISTORY OF ROME. [Chap. XLI. 

still remained was wielded by barbarian chiefs in the Roman 
service, who for the most part dared not themselves assume the 
imperial title. Avitus, commander in (jraul, on the nomination 
of Theodoric II, the king of the Ostrogoths, held the throne 
for a little over a year (455-456); but he was compelled to 
abdicate by Count Ricimer, the Sueve. The latter decided 
not to claim the throne for himself, but instead nominated 
Majorian (457-461). He was a man of force, and tried to pro- 
tect the empire against the Vandals. He was probably too 
able and too independent to suit Ricimer, for he was forced to 
abdicate. He was succeeded by Libius Severus (461-465) and 
the Greek Anthemius (467-472), who wore the purple at the 
command of Ricimer. Although the latter had consented to 
the naming of Anthemius, yet this emperor had really been put 
forward by Emperor Leo of the East. When he asserted his 
independence, Ricimer retaliated by leading a barbarian army 
against Rome, overthrowing Anthemius and replacing him by 
Olybrius. During his reign of three months Count Ricimer 
died, and his nephew, Gundobald, gave the title to Glycerius 
(473). Next year the latter exchanged the throne for a bishopric, 
and Julius Nepos (474), the candidate of the Eastern emperor, 
added his name and one year to the list. By this time the 
real power had passed to another barbarian general, Orestes, 
the former secretary of Attila, who proclaimed his own son 
emperor. Romulus Augustus, generally known by the con- 
temptuous diminutive " Augustulus," the last of the Western 
emperors, bore the title less than a year. Orestes had over- 
estimated his power with the army, and fell before a younger 
and more daring barbarian adventurer, Odoacer, who had won 
the army to his allegiance. Romulus was not put to death, as 
his father had been, but was forced to abdicate, after which 
the empty dignity of the emperor of the West was abolished. 
We have seen how, in the outlying provinces of the Roman 
empire, there had, one by one, been set up new powers that had 
nominal but no very real and vital connection with the em- 
pire. The same thing had now happened in Italy, the heart 
of the empire. Odoacer was proclaimed king by his troops, 
and the imperial authority was no longer claimed. But, as 
though in reverence for the old order, the new ruler recognized 
the sovereignty of the empire of the East. 



HOUSE OF AUGUSTUS. 



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370 HISTORY OF ROME. 



II.— DESCENDANTS OF OCTAVIA, SISTER OF 
AUGUSTUS. 

(1) C. Marcellus = Octavia = (2) M. Antonius (triumvir). 



M. Marcellus Antouia Antonia the 

(d. B.C. 23). the elder = L. Doiuitius. younger = 

N. Claudius 

Drusus. 

(See III.) 



Domitia Lepida ( = M. Valerius Cn. Domituis 

I Barbatus Messalla). ( = Agrippma 
I the younger), 

. Valeria Messalina 
(wife of Imp. Claudius). 



III.— AUGUSTUS'S STEP-CHILDREN. 

(1) Ti. Claudius Nero = Li via Augusta = (2) Imp. Augustus. 



I I 

Imp. Tiberius = Vipsauia N. Claudius Drusus (= Antonia 

1 Agrippina. I the 

I younger). 



Djubus Germanicus Livia (Livilla) Imp. Claudius 

(= Livia, ( = Agrippina ( = Drusus, son ( = Messalina). 
I sister the elder). of Tiberius). 

I of Ger- 
manicus). 



Julia(= Nero, eldest Claudius Ootavia 

son of Germanicus). Britannicus. ( = Imp. Nero). 



II^^DEX. 



Accius, L., 325. 

Achaean League, 129 ; in 
alliance with Philip V., 
130 ; control of, by 
Rome, 165. 

Achaean war, 166. 

Adrianople, battle of, 364. 

Aediles, 38, 142. 

Aelius Gallus defeated in 
Arabia Felix, 340. 

Aemilius Lepidns, M., 
military road made by, 
138. 

Aemilius Paullus,L.,slam 
in the battle of Cannae, 
107. 

Aemilius Paullus, L. 
(son), defeats Perseus, 
163. 

Aeneas, legend of, g. 

Aequians, 5, 41. 

Aetius, general, 367. 

Aetolian League, 129 ; 
forms alliance with 
Bome, 130; but is 
obliged to make jieace 
with Philip v., 130; 
chief town Ambracia 
taken by the Romans, 
134; compelled to sue 
for peace, and the 
League crushed, 134. 

Afranius, L., Consul, 267. 

Afranius, L. (poet), 325. 

Africa, invaded by the 
Romans, 89, 169. 

Agrarian Law of iSp. Cas- 
sius, 38; law intro- 
duced by Ti. Gracchus, 
181, 182 ; extended by 
C. Gracchus, 187; laws 
passed after the death 
of the Gracchi, 191; law 



proposed by Rullus, 
261 ; law introduced by 
Caesar, 268. 

Agrigentum besieged and 
taken, 87. 

Agrippa, Herod, 347. 

Agrippa, M., Octaviau's 
general, drives L. Anto- 
nius and Fulvia out 
of Rome, 312; defeats 
them at Perusia, 312; 
constructs the Julius 
Portus, 315; defeats 
fleet of Sextus Pom- 
peius, 316; defeats the 
Cantabri, 340; death 
of, 342. 

Agrippina the younger, 
wife of Claudius, 349; 
believed to have poi- 
soned the emperor, 349; 
her death by Nero, 349. 

Agrippina, widow of Ger- 
manicus, banished, 346; 
commits suicide, 347. 

Alaric, 365, 366. 

Alba Longa, foundation 
of, 9 ; destruction of, 15. 

Alban Lake, legend of 
the, 53. 

Alesia surrenders to Cae- 
sar, 279. 

Alexander Severus, 359. 

Allobroges, ambassadors 
of the, 262. 

Alps, Hannibal's passage 
of, 103 ; note on, 108. 

Aiiibitus, 155. 

Ancus Marcius, succeeds 
Tullus Hostilius, 15 ; 
conquers several Latin 
cities, and removes in- 
habitants to Rome, 15 ; 
institutes the Fetiales, 
IS ; founds a Colony at 
Ostia, 15; fortifies the 
371 



Janiculum, 16 ; con- 
structs the Pons Subli- 
cius, 16 ; his reign and 
death, 16. 

Andriscvis, 166. 

Antepildni, 149. 

Antifichus, king of Syria, 
proposes to Philip V. to 
partition Egypt be- 
tween them, 130; re- 
ceives Hannibal as a fu- 
gitive, 133; is persuaded 
to invade Greece, 133 ; 
is defeated at Ther- 
mopylae, and returns 
to Syria, 133; invades 
the kingdom of Per- 
gamus, but is defeated 
near Magnesia, 134; is 
compelled to cede all 
his dominions in Asia 
Minor, to pay fines, and 
surrender Hannibal, 
134; peace concluded, 
and affairs of Asia set- 
tled, 135. 

Antiochus Asiaticus de- 
posed, 252. 

Antoninus Pius, reign of, 
356, 357- 

Antonius,C., 261,262,264. 

Antonius, L., revolt of, 
312. 

Antonius, M. (orator), as- 
sassinated, 220. 

Antony (Marcus Anto- 
nius), Consul with 
Caesar, 298 ; offers a 
diadem to Caesar, 298; 
takes possession of 
Caesar's papers and 
treasures, 301 ; pro- 
nounces the funeral ora- 
tion over the body of 
Caesar, 302 ; master of 
Rome, 302 ; attacked by 



372 



INDEX. 



Cicero in his Philippics, 
304 ; retires to Cisal- 
pine Gaul, and besieges 
Mutina, 304 ; declared 
a public enemy, 304 ; 
defeats Pansa, 304 ; is 
defeated by Hirtius,305 ; 
received in Further Gaul 
by Lepidus, 305 ; forms 
Triumvirate with Oc- 
tavian and Lepidus, 
305 ; defeats Cassius at 
Philippi, 309 ; licen- 
tious conduct in Asia 
Minor, and meeting 
with Cleopatra, 311, 312, 
follows her to Alex- 
andria, 312 ; his troops 
defeat d in Syria, 313 ; 
meets his wife and 
brother at Athens, 313 ; 
his wife dies, 313 ; forms 
an alliance with Sextus 
Pompeius, 313 ; marries 
Octavia, sister of Octa- 
vian, 314 ; returns to the 
East with Octavia, 314 ; 
his success in Syria, 
314 ; makes another 
treaty with Octavian. 
315 ; renews his union 
with Cleopatra, 316 ; is 
defeated in Parthia, 317 ; 
returns to Alexandria, 
317 ; is defeated by Oc- 
tavian in the battle of 
Actium, 318 ; is again 
defeated at Alexandria, 
319 ; stabs himself, 319. 

Apollonia, besieged by 
Philip V. of Macedon, 
130. 

Appellatio, 147. 

Appius Claudius, the de- 
cemvir, 45, 48. 

Appius Claudius Caecus, 
82 ; his son, 86. 

Aquae Sextiae, battle at, 
203. 

Aquillius, M'., Consul, 
suppresses the Second 
Servile War iu Sicily, 
205 ; is defeated, and 
made prisoner by Mlth- 
ridates, 223. 

Arcadius, emperor, 364. 

Archelaus defeated at 
Chaeronea, 224 ; and 
at Orchomenus, 224. 

Ai'chimedes, 113. 

Ariobarzanes expelled 
from Cappadocia, 223 ; 
restored, 223 ; again ex- 



pelled, 223 ; restored to 
his kingdom, 254. 

Ariovistus defeated by 
Caesar, 274. 

Aristobiilus surrenders to 
Pompey, 253. 

Armenia, Pompey in, 257. 

Army, Roman, organisa- 
tion of, 148. 

Artaxata, victory of Lu- 
cuUus at, 247 ; sub- 
mission of Tigranes at, 
252. 

As (weight), 23. 

Ascanius, legend of, 9. 

A^culum, levolt at, 211. 

Atelldnae Fabulae, 326. 

Athenio, leader of slaves 
in Sicily, 205 ; defeated 
and slain by Aquillius, 
205. 

Athens, 129, 224. 

Attains Philometor, 177. 

Attila, 367. 

Augurs, 19, 62. 

Augustus, title conferred 
on Octavian, 339 ; sets 
out for Spain, 340 ; Can- 
tabri finally crushed, 
340 ; resigns the consul- 
ship, 340 ; superintends 
the corn -supply of Rome, 
341 , regulates the affairs 
of the East, 342 ; passes 
the Leges JuUae, 342 ; 
visits Gaul, 342 ; suc- 
ceeds Lepidus" as Ponti- 
fex Maximus, 343 ; 
divorces Scribonia and 
marries Livia Drusilla, 
344 ; Tiberius appointed 
his colleague, 344 ; his 
death, 344. 

Aurunci, 6. 

Autronlus Paetus, P., 260. 



B. 

Balearic sliagers, 151. 

Batavi, revolt of, 351. 

Belgic War, 274. 

BIbiilus, M , 268, 269, 291. 

Blaesus, Junius, with P. 
Dolabella, defeats Tac- 
farinas, 346. 

Boadicea, queen of the 
Iceni. defeated, 350. 

Boii, 3, 97 ; finally con- 
quered and slaughtered, 
138. 

Bononia (Bologna), colony 
at, 138. 



Bosporus, Cimmerian, 252. 

Brennus, 55, 56, 58. 

Britain, first invasion by 
Caesar, 276 ; second in- 
vasion, 277 ; invasion 
of, by Claudius, 349 ; 
revolt in, 350 ; Agrioola 

>"• 353- 

Bruttii, 6. 

Brutus, D., besieges Mas- 
silia, 290 ; governor of 
Cisalpine Gaul, 302 ; 
commands agamst An- 
tony, 305 ; put to death 
at Aquileia, 305. 

Brutus, L. Junius, 28, 29 ; 
his death, 31. 

Brutus, M. Junius, 
Praetor, conspires with 
Cassius and others to 
assassinate Caesar, 298 ; 
retires to Macedonia, 
303; collects an army 
in Macedonia, 308 ; 
plunders Lycia, 308 ; 
crosses over into Thrace, 
309 ; defeated by Oc- 
tavian at Philippi, 310; 
slays himself, 310. 



c. 

Caecilius, Q., 274. 

Caesar, Caius Julius, early 
life, 256, 257 ; Quaestor, 
257 ; Aedile, 257 ; re- 
stores statues and tro- 
phies of Marius, 257 ; 
Propraetor in Spain, 
268 ; his conquests there, 
268 ; Consul, 268 ; forms 
cabal with Pompey and 
Crassus (first Trium- 
virate), 268 ; carries 
Agrarian Law, 268 ; 
supports Pompey, and 
gives him his only 
daughter Julia in mar- 
riage, 269 ; divorces his 
wife, 270 ; obtains com- 
mand in Gaul, 269 ; ist 
campaign in Gaul, 274 ; 
2nd, 274 : 3rd, 275 ; 4th, 
275 ; 5th, 277 ; 6th, 278 ; 
7th, 278: 8th, 280; 
rivalry of Pompey, 284- 
287 ; quarters at Ra- 
venna, 286 ; ordered to 
disband his army, 287 ; 
refuses and crosses the 
Rubicon, 288 ; enters 
Rome, 289 ; conquers 



INDEX. 



373 



bis opponents in Spain, 
290 ; short Dictatorship, 
291 ; crosses to Greece 
to encounter Pompey, 
agi ; total defeat of 
Pompey in the battle of 
Pharsalue, 292; Dictator, 
294; pursues Pompey 
into Egypt, 294 ; sup- 
ports Cleopatra, 294 ; 
conquers Pharnaces, 
294 ; returns to Rome, 
294 ; defeats Pompeian 
army in Africa, 295 ; 
master of the Roman 
world, and Dictator for 
ten years, 295 ; his 
Triumph, 296 ; his 
clemency and reforms, 
291, 296, 297 : Impera- 
tor and Dictator for life, 
297 ; conspiracy ag .inst 
him, 298 ; assassination, 
299 ; cliaracter, 299 ; his 
character as a writer, 

335- 

Caesar, Gains (Caligula), 
succeeds Tiberius, 347 ; 
restores the comitia 
and discourages the 
delatiirts, 347 ; causes 
the death of his cousin, 
Tiberius Gemellus, 347 ; 
his expeditions to Gaul 
and Germany travestied, 
348 ; his freaks and 
cap' ices, 348 \ assassin- 
ated, 348. 

Caesar, L. Julius, Consul, 
212 ; in Social War, 212 ; 
proposes Lex Julia, 

213 

Calabria, 7. 

Caligula, 347,. 348. 

Calpurnian Law, De Repe,- 
tundis, 188. 

Camillus, M. Furius, 53, 
54. 57. 58, 61, 64. 

Campagna, 6. 

Campania, 6. 

Cannae, battle of, 107. 

Cantabriaiis, 139, 173, 340. 

Canuleia, Lex, 50. 

Capitolium, 28. 

Capua opens its gates to 
Hannibal, 108 ; retalien 
by the Romans, 117. 

Caracalla, reign of, 359. 

Caractacus, 349. 

Carbo, Cn. Papirius, Con- 
sul, joins Cinna, 227. 

Carthage, 84; capture and 
destruction of, 171 ; re- 



built by the Pomans, 
171. 

Carthaginians, their navy, 
87 ; defeated by the Ro- 
man navy, 88, 89, 93. 

Catilina, L. Sergius, early 
life, 260 ; conspiracy, 
260, 262 ; accused by 
Cicero, 262 ; leaves 
Rome, 262 ; collects 
troops, 263 ; defeated 
and slain, 264. 

Cassius Longlnus,C., fights 
under Crassus in Meso- 
potamia. 283 ; conducts 
the retreat to Syria, 283 ; 
originates the conspi- 
racy against Caesar, 
298 ; retires into SjTia, 
303 ; defeats Dolabella 
in Syria, 308 ; plunders 
Rhodes, 308 ; marches 
with Brutus into Thrace, 
309 ; defeated by An- 
tony at Philippi, 309 ; 
his death, 309. 

Cato, M. Porcius, in Spain, 
139; Quaestor, Pr*tor, 
Consul, 156, 157 ; Cen- 
sor, 160 ; his reforms, 
160 ; his prejudices, 
160, 161 ; his severity 
and avarice, 161 ; his 
character as a writer, 

334- 

Cato, M. Porcius. advo- 
cates the death of the 
Catilinarian conspira- 
tors, 263 ; his death at 
Utica, 295. 

Catullus, Valerius, 327. 

Catiilus, Q. Lntatius, com- 
bines with Marius in 
the overthrow of the 
Cimbri, 204 ; his death 
by order of Marius, 220. 

Cataius, Q. Lutatius (son), 
hails Cicero as " Father 
of his Country," 264. 

Caudine Forks, battle at, 
70. _ 

Celtiberians, tribes of, 
139; war with, 175. 

Cenomani, 3. 

Censors, 51, 144. 

f^ensus, 51, 114. 

Centuriones, 149. 

i^ethegus, C. Cornelius, 
261, 263. 

Chalons, battle of, 367. 

Chosroes, king, 355. 

Cicero, M. Tullius, early 
life, studies, and success 



as an orator, 257 ; Qu»s 
tor, 258 ; prosecutes 
Verres, 258 ; his speech 
for Sex. Roscius of 
Ameria, 258 ; studies 
at At' ens and in Asia 
Minor, 258 ; Aedile, 
Praetor, 259; Consul, 
261 ; opposes agrarian 
law of Rullus, 261 ; 
denounces Catiline, 

262 ; arrests conspira- 
tors, 263 ; hostility of 
( lodius, 270 ; his banish- 
ment, 271 ; his return to 
Rome, 272 ; joius the 
party of Caesar's assas- 
sins, 301 ; his Philippics 
against Antony, 304 ; 
stimulates the Senate 
against Antony and Oc 
tavian, 305 ; is included 
in the list of proscrip- 
tions, 307 ; his death, 
307 ; his character as a 
writer, 334. 

Cimbri, 201 ; they enter 
and r .vage Spain, 202 ; 
enter Jtaly, destroyed 
by Aiarius and Catulus, 
204. 

Cincinnatus and the 
Aequians, 41. 

Cincius Alimentus, L., 

334- 

Cinna, L., Consul, 219; 
conflict with Octavius, 
219 ; associated with 
Marius, 220 ; their mas- 
sacres in Rome, 220; 
murdered by his army, 
227. 

Circus Maximus, 21. 

Cisalpine Gaul, a Roman 
province, 138. 

Cives Romani, 81. 

Civilis, Julius, 331. 

Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, 
meets M. Antony at 
Tarsus, 311 ; attracts 
him to Alexandria, 312 ; 
is deserted for Octavia, 
314 ; again attracts An- 
tony, who returns with 
her to Alexandr.a, 317 ; 
war declared against her 
by the Senate, 318 ; 
defeated w th Antony 
at Actium, 318 ; de- 
ceives Antony, but fails 
to deceive Octavian, 
319 ; kills herself, 320. 

Clients, 16. 



374 



INDEX. 



Clodius Pulcher, P., pro- 
fligate conduct of, 270 ; 
tribune, 270 ; procures 
the banishment of Ci- 
cero, 271 ; killed by 
Milo, 284. 

Clusium besieged, 55. 

Cohorts, 151. 

Collatia, CoUatinus, 21. 

Colonies, Roman, 52. 

Comitia Centuriata, 25, 
146. 

Comitia Curiata, 18, 25, 
146. 

Comitia TribUia Plehis, 
44, 48, 62, 147. 

Comitia TribUta Populi, 

63, TJ7. 

Commodus, 357, 358. 

Constantin e, reign of, 361 . 

Consuls, duties of, 143. 

Corbulo, Domitius, 350. 

Corfinium, 212. 

Corinth burnt, 167. 

Coriolanus, C. Marcius, 
39; banished from Rome, 
39 : invades Rome at 
the head of a Volscian 
army, 39 ; spares the 
city, 39 ; his death, 40. 

Cornelia, n.ilher of the 
Gr.icchi, 8 . 

Cornelia, daughter of Cin- 
na, married to Caesar, 
256 ; her death, 257. 

Corneliae Legfs, 233. 

Cornelii, slaves so called, 
232. 

Cors ca and Sardinia, 
form d into a Roman 
province, 96 ; revolt in 
140. 

Cotta, C. Aurellus, lawyer, 
258. 

Cotta, L. Aurelius, 260. 

Cotta, M. Aurelius, de- 
feated by Mithridates, 
246. 

Crassus, P. Licinius, de- 
feated by Aristonicus, 
177. 

Crassus. M. Licinms, 
Praetor, appointed to 
command the army 
against the Gladiators. 
-41 : defeats and slays 
Spartacus, 241 ; Consul 
with Pompey, 242 ; 
forms first Triumvirate 
■with Caesar and Pom- 
pey, 268 ; meets Caesar 
and Pompey at Luca, 
281; second Consulship 



■with Pompey, 282 ; his 

command in Syria, 282 ; 

crosses the Euphrates, 

283 ; defeated and killed, 

283. 
Cremona besieged, 138. 
Cretan archers (l>'agit- 

tarii), 151. 
Curiae, 18. 
Curiatii, 14. 
Curius, M'., defeats Pyr- 

rhus, 80. 
Curtius, M., legend of, 64. 
CurSles Magistratus, 142. 



Decemvirate, 44 ; Decem- 
viri appointed, 44 ; their 
tyranny, 45 ; the Twelve 
Tables, 48 ; Decemviri 
continue in office, 45 ; 
they assassinate Sicini- 
us Dentatus, 46 ; Ver- 
ginia slain by her father 
to save her from the 
Decemvir Appius Clau- 
dius, 47 ; resignation of 
the Decemvirs, 47. 

Deeius, emperor, 359. 

Decius Mus, P., self-sac- 
rifice, 68; his son, 72. 

Decuriones, 150. 

Deintarus, tetrarch of Ga- 
latia, 254. 

Demetrius of Pharos, 96, 
129. 

Dictatorship, 34, 144 ; re- 
vived by Sulla, 231. 

Diocletian, reign of, 360. 

Dolabella, Cn., accused of 
extortion, 256. 

Dolabella, P., governor of 
Syria, puts' an end to his 
own life, 308. 

Domitian, succeeds Titus, 
353 ; leads a campaign 
against the Chatti, 353 ; 
ryiuces the power of the 
senate, 353 ; celebrates 
a triumph, 353 ; recalls 
Agricola from Britain, 
353 ; meets reverses in 
war, 353 ; his manage- 
ment of public affairs, 
353 : persecution of 
Christians, 353 ; assassi- 
nated, 35 . 

Drama, Koman, 322. 

Drepanum, siege of, 93. 

Drusus, Libo, his con- 
spiracy, 345. 



Drusus, M., Livius, 189, 
190. 

Drusus, M. Livius, son 
of the opponent of C. 
Gracchus, elected - a 
Tribune, endeavours to 
obtain the Roman 
franchise for the Al- 
lies, 209 ; assassinated, 
210. 

Drusus, Nero Claudius, 
343. 344- 



Eburones, revolt of the, 

277. 
Egypt, 129 ; added to the 

Roman Empire, 320 ; 

the granary of Rome, 

341- 
Election of ten Tribunes, 

47- 

Enna (Servile War), 177. 

Ennius, Q., 323. 

Equestrian Order, 54, 188. 

Ktruria, 4. 

litruscans, their name 
language, origin, and 
portions of Italy occu- 
pied by them, 3, 4 ; wars 
with the, 52 ; defeated, 
71 ; in league with the 
Umbrians, 72 ; defeated 
at Lake Vadimo, 74. 

Eumenes, king of Perga- 
mns. obtains the Cher- 
sonnese, Mysia, Lydia, 
and part of Caria, 135. 

Eunus (Servile AVar), 177. 



r. 

Fabia Gens and the Veien- 
tines, 40. 

Fabius, Lieutenant, de- 
feated by Mithridates, 
247. 

Fabius Maximus, Q., ap- 
pointed Dictator, and to 
the command-in-chief 
against Hannibal, 106 ; 
styled the Gunctator, or 
" Lingerer," 106 ; ob- 
tains Tarentum, 117. 

Fabius Pictor, Q., 334. 

Fabius Sanga. Q., 262. 

Falerii surrenders to the 
Romans, 53. 

Fescennine songs, 326. 



INDEX. 



371 



Fetidles, x$. 

Fidenae taken and de- 
stroyed, 53. 

Fimbria defeated, slays 
himself, 225. 

Flamens, 13. 

Flamininus, T.,Quinctius, 
appointed to the com 
mand against Philip V., 
whose army is defeated 
in the battle of Cynos- 
cephalae, 131 ; pro- 
claims the independence 
of Greece, 132 ; with- 
draws the Roman garri- 
sons from all the towns 
of Greece, and returns 
to Italy, 132. 

Flaminius, C, defeats the 
Insubres, gy ; is defeated 
^y Hannibal, near Lake 
I'rasimenus, and slain, 
105. 

Forum Ulpianum, 355. 

Fossa Mariana, 203. 

Fulvia (mistress of Q. 
Curius), 262. 

Fulvia, wife of M. Antony, 
312 ; is driven out of 
Rome, and defeated at 
Perusla, 312 ; dies at 
Sicyon, 313. 

Fulvius Nobilior, M., be- 
sieges and captures the 
town of Ambracia, 134. 



Gabii, 28. 

Gabinius, A., 249. 

Gaiseric, 367. 

Galatia, 128. 

Galatians attacked by Cn. 
Manlius Vulso, defeated 
in two battles, and com- 
pelled to sue for peace, 

135- 

Galba, Ser. Sulpicins, his 
treachery, 173. 

Galba, Servius S ilpicius, 
proclaimed emperor, 
350 ; marches for Rome, 
350 ; puts down an 
attempt to seize the 
throne, 350 ; adopts Piso 
Licinianus as his asso- 
ciate, 350 : killed, 35:. 

Gallia Cisalpina, 2. 

Gallaecians, 139, 175. 

Gaul, Caesar's wars in, 
273-280. 



Gauls in Italy, 2 ; (Insu- 
bres), 3 ; conquered, 97 ; 
(Senones) besiege Clu- 
sium, 55 ; march against 
Rome, 56 ; battle of the 
Allia, 56 ; Rome de- 
stroyed. 57 ; the Capitol 
besieged, 57 ; Capitol 
saved, 57. 

Gentes, Roman, 16. 

Germanicus, nephew of 
Augustus, takes com- 
mand in Germany, 343 ; 
recalled, 343 ; defeats 
the Marsi, 345 ; cele- 
brates a triumph, 345 ; 
sent to the East, 345 ; 
dies at Antioch, 345. 

Germanicus, Tiberius 

Claudius Drusus, elected 
emperor, 348 ; passes 
many useful reforms, 
348 ; completes the Aqua 
Claudia, builds the port 
of Ostia, and drains 
Lake Fucinus, 348 ; 
makes changes in the 
East, 349 ; grants ex- 
tension of franchise,349 ; 
his conquests of parts of 
Britain, 349 ; his mar- 
riages, 349 ; death, 349. 

Germany, wars in, 343, 
346- 

Glabrio, M'. Acilius, 248. 

Glaucia, 208. 

Goths, first invasion of, 
359 ; later invasions, 
363, .365. 

Gracchi, 179-191. 

Gracchus, Caius Sempro- 
nius (the Tribune), re- 
turns from Sardinia, 
187 ; elected Tribune, 
187 ; his legal reforms, 
187-189 ; opposed by 
in. Livius Drusus. i8g; 
murdered, 190. 

Gracchus, Ti. Sempro- 
nius (father of the Tri- 
bunes), subdues Spain, 
140. 

Gracchus, Ti. Sempro- 
nius (the Tribune), 
Quaestor in Spain, 181 ; 
at the siege of Carthage, 
181 ; elected Tribune, 
18 1; introduces Agra- 
rian Law, 181, 182 ; his 
murder, 184. 

Graecia, Magna, 7, 74. 

Greek colonies in Italy, 7. 



H. 

Hadrian, reign of, 356. 
Hamilcar excites Gauls 
and Ligurians against 
Romans, 137. 
Hamilcar Barca, 93 ; re- 
lieves Lilybaeum and 
Drepanum, 93 ; con- 
quests in Spain, 98 ; 
death, 98. 
Hannibal elected to suc- 
ceed Hasdrubal, 99 ; first 
campaigns in Spain, 99 ; 
besieges and takes Sa- 
guntum, 99 ; crosses 
the Iberus and the Py- 
renees with a large 
army, 102 ; reaches the 
Rhone, 102 ; crosses the 
Alps, 103 ; encamps in 
the plains of the Po, 
among the Insubres, 
103 ; reduces the Tau- 
rini, 103 ; defeats the 
army of Scipio near the 
Ticlnus, 104 ; defeats 
combined army of Scipio 
and Longus near the 
Trebia, 104 ; marches 
through Liguria to the 
Arno, 104 ; defeats C. 
Flaminius at Lake Tra- 
simenus, 105 ; eludes Q. 
Fabius and defeats Mi- 
nucius, 107 ; annihi- 
lates an immense Ro- 
man army at Cannae, 
107 ; marches into Sam- 
nium and Campania, 
and obtains Capua, 108 ; 
his rapid marches, in ; 
campaigns of b.c. 215- 
213, III, 112; obtains 
Tarentum, 112 ; mar- 
ches up to the walls of 
Rome, but Is unable to 
take the city, 116 ; loses 
Capua, 117 ; loses Sa- 
lapia, 117; destroys the 
army of Cn. Fulvius at 
Herdoniae, 117; loses 
Tarentum, 117; is re- 
called from Italy, 125 ; 
defeated by Scipio near 
Zama, 126 ; is protected 
by Antiochus, after 
whose defeat at Mag- 
nesia, he escapes, and 
is received by Prusias, 
king of Bithynia, 134, 
159 ; is demanded by 



376 



INDEX. 



Rome, takes poison, and 
dies, i6o. 

Hanno, in command of 
Carthaginian fleet, de- 
feated by Lutatius Catu- 
lUB, 93. 

Hasdriibal succeeds Ha- 
milcar, 98 ; founds New 
Carthage, 98 ; assassi- 
nated, 99. 

Hasdrubal, brother of 
Hannibal, marches from 
Spain into Italy, 118; 
is defeated on the Me- 
taurus, and sUin, 119. 

Hastati, 150. 

Helvetii defeated by Cae- 
sar, 274. 

Hernicans, 5, 71. 

HIero, king of Syracuse, 
86 ; besieges Messana, 
86 ; is defeated by the 
Romans, and makes 
peace, 87 ; his death, 
112. 

Hirtius, A., Consul, de- 
feats Antony at Mutina, 
but is slain, 305. 

Hispania Citerlor and Ul- 
terior, 139. 

Honorius, 364-366. 

Horatii, 14. 

Horatius Flaccus, Q. 
(poet), 330. 

Hortensia, Lex, 63. 

Hortensius, Q. (orator), 
216, 217, 250, 251, 258. 

Hostilius Mancinus, C, 
defeated by the Celtibe- 
rians, 175. 

Huns, 367. 



lapygians, 7. 

Iceni, revolt of, under 
Queen Boadicea, 350. 

Tgnobiles, 155. 

Illyria and lUyrians, 96. 

Illyrian wars, 96. 

Istria subdued, 140. 

Italia, 2. 

Italians proper, 4. 

Italy, geography of, i ; 
early inhabitants of, i ; 
struggles in Central 
Italy, 72 ; improvement 
of agriculture, 355. 

lulus, or Ascanlus, 9. 



Janlciilum fortified, 16. 
Janus, temple of, 14 ; 
closed for the second 
time, 96 ; for the third 
time, 320, 338 ; for the 
fourth time, 340. 

Jerusalem taken by Pom- 
P6y.253; (le.str()yed,352. 

Jugurtha, under Scipio in 
Spain, 176 ; early life, 
193 ; bribes the Sena- 
tors, iq4 ; defeats Ad- 
herbal, and puts him to 
death, 194 ; war declared 
against him, but comes 
to Home under safe con- 
duct, 195 ; murders Mas- 
siva, and is ordered to 
quit Italy, 195 ; defeated 
by Metellus, 196 ; and 
by Marius, 199, who 
takes him prisoner, and 
conveys him to Rome, 
where he is starved in 
prison, 199, 200. 

Julia, aunt of Caesar, 193; 
her death, 257. 

Julia, daughter of Caesar, 
269, 284. 

Julia, Lex, 213. 

Julian, reign of, 362, 363. 

Jovian, emperor, 363. 

Jupiter Capitolinus, tem- 
ple of,burned, 351 ; new 
temple of, burned, 353. 

Jus Imdginum, 155. 



E. 

Kings of Rome, 10-30. 



Laberius, D., 326. 

Latin War for the restora- 
tion of Tarquin, 33 ; 
battle of the Lake Re- 
gillus, 34; Great Latin 
War, 67 ; battle at the 
foot of Vesuvius, 68 ; 
self-sacrifice of P. De- 
cius Mus, 68 ; defeat of 
the Latins, 68 ; battle at 
Trifanum, 68. 

Latins, 4, 6. 

Latium, 6 ; part of, incor- 



porated with the Re- 
public of Rome, 68. 

Legends of early Roman 
history, 9. 

Leges and Plebiscita, 147. 

Legiones, 148-151. 

LentOlus, Cn., his con- 
spiracy, 348 ; and death, 
348. 

Lentiilus Sura, P. Corne- 
lius, 261, 263. 

Lepidus, M., Consul op- 
poses the public funeral 
of Sulla, 233 ; proposes 
the repeal of Sulla's 
laws, 237 ; collects an 
army and marches upon 
Rome, 238 ; is defeated 
near the Mulviun 
Bridge, retires to Sar- 
dinia, and dies, 238. 

Lepidus, JM., Master of 
the Horse, 298 ; forms 
Triumvirate with Octa- 
vian and Antony, 305 ; 
in Africa and Sicily, 

^ 313. 316. 

Licmian Rogations and 
Laws, 60, 180. 

Ludi Saeculares, ceh bra- 
tion of the, 342. 

Liguria, 2, 3 ; Ligurians, 

, 3- 

Lilybaeum, sieges of, 79, 
92, 93. 

Lmgones, 3. 

Livia Drusilla, wife of 
Augustus, 344 ; her 
aims, 344. 

Livitis Andronlcus, M., 
323. 

Livitis Titus, 336. 

Lucaniaand Lucanians, 6. 

Lucanians, 74, 214. 

LScgres, 17. 

Lucilius, C., 327. 

Lucretius Carus, T. (poet). 

327 

Lucullus, L. Tiicinius, op- 
poses and defeats Mith- 
ridates in Bithynia 
and Pontus, 246 ; sends 
Appus Claudius to Ti- 
granes, 246 ; his reforms 
in Asia, 247 ; defeats 
Tigranes at Tigrano- 
certa and at Artaxata, 
247 ; recalled, and su- 
perseded by Pompey, 
251. 

Ludi Magni, 142. 

Lusitania, invaded by Ser. 
SulplciuB Galba, 173 ; 



INDEX. 



377 



successes of Caesar in, 
268. 
Lusitanians, 139, 174-5. 

M. 

Macedonia, kingdom of, 
129. 

Macedonian Wars, 129, 
162. 

Maelius, Sp., slain, 51. 

M igister Equitum, 34, 69. 

Magna Graecia, 7, 74. 

Mamertini, 86. 

Mauilian Law, Cicero's ad- 
dress in favour of, 250. 

Manilius, C, I ribune, 250. 

Manipuli, 149. 

Manlius, M., saves the 
Capitol, 57 ; patron of 
the poor, 59 ; his fate, 
60. 

Manlius Torquatus, L., 
260. 

Manlius Torquatus. T., le- 
gend of, 59 ; and of his 
son, 67. 

Manlius Vulso, Cn., defeats 
the Galatians and after- 
wards, in conjunction 
with commissioners, 
concludes a peace with 
Antiochus, and settles 
the affairs of Asia, 135. 

Marcellus, M., Consul, ar- 
rives in Sicily, 112; 
takes Leontini, 113 ; in- 
vests Syracuse, where 
he is baffled by Archi- 
medes, 113 ; but finally 
captures it, 114 ; takes 
Salapia, 117 ; defeated 
and slain in Lucania, 
118. 

Marous Aurelius, reign 
of, 357- 

Marius, C, early life, 193 ; 
in Spain with Scipio, 
193 ; elected Tribune, 
193 ; sends the Consul 
Metellus to prison, 193 ; 
elected Praetor, 193 ; 
marries Julia, sister of 
Julius Caesar the elder, 
193; accompanies Me- 
tellus to Africa, 196 ; 
returns to Rome, and 
is elected Consul, with 
command in Numidia, 
198 ; repulses a com- 
bined attack of Ju- 
gurtha and Bocchus, 199; 



attaches Bocchus to the 
Komans, and takes Ju- 
gurtha prisoner, both by 
the agency of his Quaes- 
tor Sulla, 199; elected 
Consul during his ab- 
sence, and returns to 
Rome, leading Jugurtha 
in triumph, 200 ; reor- 
organises the army, 202 ; 
elected Consul a third 
and fourth time, 203 ; 
defeats and destroys the 
Cimbri, Teutones, and 
Ambrones, 204 ; elected 
Consul a fifth time, and 
has a Triumph, 204 ; 
enters into a compact 
with Saturninus and 
Glaucia, 206 ; and is 
elected Consul a sixth 
time, 206 ; loses reputa- 
tion, and sets sail for 
Cappadocia and Galatia, 
208 ; in the Social War, 
213 : is surpassed by 
Sulla, 213 ; intrigues to 
obtain the command 
against Mithridates, 215; 
is opposed by Sulla, who 
enters Home with his 
army, and Marius makes 
his escape, 217 ; his suf- 
ferings, risks, and return 
to Rome with Cinna, 
218, 220 ; his conquests 
and the massacres in 
Rome, 220 ; in con- 
junction with Cinna 
elects himself Consul 
for the seventh time, 
220 ; his death, 220. 

Marius, the younger, de- 
feated by Sulla, 229 ; 
orders his opponents to 
be put to death, 229 ; 
embarks for Africa, 229 ; 
puts an end to his own 
life, 230. 

Marrucini, 5. 

Marsi, 5. 

Marsic or Social War, 178- 
180 

Masinissa, enters into 
treaty with Scipio, 122 ; 
assists Scipio, 12s ; aids 
Scipio to defeat Hasdru- 
bal and Syphax, 125 ; 
marries and loses 
Sophonisba, 125. 

Mediterranean Sea infest- 
ed with pirates, 249. 

Memmius, C, compels 



the war with Jugurtha, 
195 ; murdered, 207. 

M6napli defeated by Cae- 
sar, 275 

MSnenlus Agrippa, fable 
told by, 37. 

Mercenary war at Car- 
thage, 95. 

Messana, 85. 

Metellus Celer, 264, 267. 

Metellus, L., defeats the 
Carthaginians at Panor- 
mus, 91. 

Metellus (Macedonicus), 
Q , 166. 

Metellus Nepos, 264. 

Metellus (Nnmidicus), Q. 
Caecilius, Consul, con- 
ducts the war in Africa 
against Jugurtha, 196 ; 
superseded by Marius, 
198. 

Mettius Fuffetius, 15. 

Military Tribunes ap- 
pointed, 51. 

Mimes, 326 

Mithridates, king of Ar- 
menia, 349 

Mithridates V., king of 
Pontus, assassinated, 
222, 

Mithridates VI., king of 
Pont'i -s early life, 222 ; 
conquests and alliances, 
222 : orders a mas- 
sacre of Romans and 
Italians in the cities of 
Asia, 223 ; defeated by 
L. Valerius Flaccus and 
by Fimbria, 224 ; ob- 
tains peace on hard con- 
ditions, 225 ; defeats 
Murena on the Halys, 
244 ; makes peace with 
Rome, and evacuates 
Cappadocia, 245 ; re- 
news the war with 
Rome, 245 ; overruns 
Bithynia, and defeats 
Cotta, 246 ; retreats 
before LucuUus into 
Pontus, 246 ; defeated 
by LucuUus at Cabira, 
and takes refuge in Ar 
menia, 246 ; defeats Fa 
bins and Triarius, 248 
unites with Tigranes, 
when they overrun Pon 
tus and Cappadocia, 248 
is defeated by Pompey, 
251 ; escapes into the 
Cimmerian Bosporus, 
2j2 ; conspiracy of his 



378 



INDEX. 



son Pharnaces, 253 ; his 

death, 254. 
Mithridatic Wars : first, 

221-225; second, 244; 

third, 245-254. 
Aloorish dartmen, 151 
Morini defeated by Csesar, 

275- 

Mucins Scaevola, C, 33. 

Mulvian Bridge, battle of 
the, 238. 

Murena, L., invades Cap- 
padocia and Pontus, 
244 ; is opposed by 
Mithridates, and de- 
feated, 244. 



Naevius, Cn., 323. 

Nasica, Scipio, 184. 

Navy, Carthaginian, 85, 87. 

Navy, Roman, 87, 90. 

Neapolis attacked, 69. 

Nepos, Cornelius, 336. 

Nero and Livius, Consuls, 
defeat Hasdrubal, 119. 

Nero, succeeds Claudius, 
349 ; causes death of 
Britanuicus, 34,) ; his 
liaison with Poppaea, 
349 ; divorces Octavia 
and marries Poppaea, 
350 ; accused of causing 
the great fire at Rome, 
350 ; bis persecution of 
Christians, 350 ; con- 
spiracy to dethrone him, 
350; his dissipations, 
350 ; commits suicide, 

35°- 

Nerva, M.Cocceius, elected 
emperor, 354 ; sanc- 
tions execution of Domi- 
tian's murderers, 354 ; 
chooses M. Ulpius Tra- 
janus as consort, 354 ; 
dies, 354. 

Nervii defeated by Caesar, 



of Bithynia, 223 ; re- 
stored, 223 ; again ex- 
pelled, 223 ; dies, leav- 
ing his dominions to the 
Roman people, 245. 

Nobiles, 155 

Nobility, 154-155. 

Nonius, A., murder of, 207. 

Norbanus, C, Consul, de- 
feated by Sulla, 228. 

Novus Homo, 155. 



Numa Pomp lius elected 
to succeed Romulus, 13 ; 
his reign and institu- 
tions, 13-14. 

Numantine War, disas- 
trous till conducted by 
Scipio, 175, who cap- 
tures and desti'oys Nu- 
mantia, 176. 

Numidia, political condi- 
tion of, and war in, 193- 
200 

Niimltor, 10. 



0. 

Octavian (C. Julius Caesar 
Octavianus\ appointed 
heir to Caesar, 302 : 
comes to Rome, and 
claims the inheritance, 
303 ; collects an army, 
304 ; elected Consul, 

305 ; forms Triumvirate 
with Antony and Lepi- 
dus, 305 ; proscriptions, 

306 ; defeats Brutus at 
Philippi, 309 ; returns 
to Rome, 310 ; recon- 
ciliation with Antony, 
313 ; his fleet destroyed 
by Sextus Pompeius,3 1 5 ; 
renews the Triumvirate, 
315 ; subdues the Dal- 
matians, 317 ; rupture 
with Antony, 318; de- 
feats Antony and Cleo- 
patra at Actium, 318 ; 
his Triumph, 320, 338 ; 
Princeps, Augustus, 
Pontifex Maximus, 320, 
338 ; end of the Re- 
public, 320. See also 
Augustus. 

Octavius. See Octavian. 

Oetavius, Cn., against 
Cinna, 219 ; slain, 220. 

Odoacer, 368. 

Oppian Law repealed, 157. 

Oscan language, 5. 

Ostia founded, 15. 

Otho, M. Salvius, raises 
mutiny among prae- 
torian guards, 351 ; suc- 
ceeds Galba, 351 ; makes 
overtures of peace to A. 
Vitellius, which are re- 
jected, 351 ; his army 
defeated, 351 ; commits 
suicide, 351. 

Ovldius Naso, P. (poet), 
333- I 



Pacuvlus, M., 325. 

Paeligni, 5. 

Palaeopolis taken, 69. 

Panormus, defeat there of 
Carthaginians, 91. 

Pansa, C. Vibius, Consul, 
defeated by Antony, and 
slain, =04. 

Papius Matilus, C., 212 ; 
defeated by Sulla, 213. 

Patrts Majoi um and Mi- 
norum Gentium, 21, 

Patricians, 16 ; strugglea 
between them and the 
Plebeians, 35 ; ascend- 
ancy of the Patricians, 
35. _ See Plebeians. 

Pdtronus, 16. 

Paulinas, Suetonius, 350. 

Pergamus, 128 ; made a 
province, 177. 

Perperna, M., reinforces 
Sertorius in Spain, 238 ; 
becomes jealous of Ser- 
torius, and assassinat s 
him, 240 ; is defeated by 
P5mpey, 240. 

Perseus succeeds Philip as 
king of Macedon, 162 ; 
defeated by L. Aemilius 
Paullus, 163 ; death, 
164. 

Pertinax, reign of, 358. 

Pharnaces, conspiracy of, 
against Mithridates, 
253 ; confirmed in pos 
session of the king- 
dom of the Bosporus, 

254 
Philip v., king of Mace- 
don, enters into a treaty 
with Hannibal, m ; ap- 
pears in the Adriatic 
with a fleet, and lays 
siege to Oricum and 
ApoUonia, 130 ; takes 
Oricum, but is driven 
from ApoUonia, and 
burns his fleet, 130 ; 
in alliance with the 
Achaeans and at peace 
with the Aetolians and 
Romans, 130; assists 
Hannibal at Zama, 130 ; 
attacks the Rhodians 
and Attalus, king of 
Pergamus, 130 ; treats 
with Antiochus for the 
partition of Egypt, 130 ; 
besieges Athens, which 



INDEX. 



379 



is relieved by a Roman 
fleet, 131 ; sues for peace 
after his defeat in ttie 
battle of Cynoscephalae, 
131 ; refuses to take part 
with Antiochus against 
the Romans, 133 ; his 
death, 162. 

Phoenicians, 84. 

Phalanx, 76, 131, 163. 

Phraates, Parthian king, 
restores captured stan- 
dards, 342. 

Picentines, 5. 

Piracy in the Mediterra- 
nean suppressed by 
Pompey, 249, 250. 

Piso, C. Calpnrnius, 350. 

Placentia, 138. 

Placidia, rule of, 367. 

Plautia Papiria, Lex, 213. 

Plautus, T. Maccius, 324. 

PlebiscUa, 48, 62, 63 ; and 
I.eges, 147. 

Plebs, Plebeians, origin of 
the, 16 ; sufferings of 
the, 36 ; Ager Publicus, 
36 ; secession of Ple- 
beians to the Sacred 
Mount, 37 ; institution 
of Tribunes of the Plebs, 
37 ; Agrarian Law in- 
troduced by Sp. Cassius, 
38 ; retipwed struggles 
of the Plebs, 43 ; the 
Twelve Tables as ple- 
beian law, 48 ; distress 
after the Gallic invasion, 
59 ; final struggle with 
the Patricians, 61 ; close 
of the struggle and vic- 
tory of the Plebeians, 63. 

Pneni, 84. 

Pomerium, n, 25. 

Pompaedius Silo, Q., 212. 

Pompeii and Herculane- 
um, destruction of, 352. 

Pompeiopolis, 250. 

Pompeius, Sextus, master 
of the sea, 307 ; forms 
alliance with Octavian 
and Antony, 314 ; rup- 
ture of the alliance, 314 : 
defeats Octavian 's fleet, 
315 ; his own fleet de- 
feated by M. Agrippa, 
316; is taken prisoner, 
and put to death at Mi- 
letus, 316. 

Pompeius Strabo, Cn., in 
Social War, 213. 

Pompey (Cn. Pompeius 
Magnus), early life and 



career, 238 -g ; receives 
the surname of Magnus, 
239 ; sent to Spain as 
Proconsul against Ser- 
torius, 240 ; failures 
and successes, 240 ; de- 
feats Perperna, 240 ; 
concludes the war, 240 ; 
elected Consul with 
Crassus, 242 ; restores 
the Tribunician power, 
242 ; suppresses piracy 
in the Mediterranean, 
250 ; supersedes Lucul- 
lusin the East, 251 ; de- 
feats Mithridates in 
Lesser Armenia, 251 ; 
receives the submission 
of Tigranes, 252 ; his 
conquests in Syria and 
Palestine, 253 ; returns 
to Italy, 267 ; his Tri- 
umph, 267 ; Senate re- 
fuses to sanction his 
measures in Asia, 267 ; 
forms cabal with Caesar 
and Crassus (first Tri- 
umvirate), 267 ; marries 
Caesar's daughter Julia, 
269 ; meets Caesar and 
Crassus at I^uca, 281 ; 
Consul with Crassus, 
282 ; obtains covern- 
ment of Spain, 28 • ; his 
new theatre at Rome 
opened 282 ; his w ife 
Julia dies, 284 ; elected 
sole Consul, 285 ; be- 
comes hostile to Caesar, 
28 s ; measures in oppo- 
sition to Caesar, 285, 
286 ; invested by the 
Senate with command 
of the army, 287 ; re- 
treats before Cafsar, 
289 ; embarks for Greece, 
289 ; besieged by Caesar 
at Dyrrachium, 292 ; 
forces Caesar to retreat, 
292 ; defeated by Caesar 
at Pharsalus, 2925 flies 
to Egypt, 293 ; slain 
there, 2^3. 

Pontiffs, i8, 62. 

Pontine Marshes, 7, 298. 

Pontius, C, defeats the 
Romans, 70; he or his 
son is defeated and put 
to death, 72. 

Pontius, the Samnite, 229. 

Pontus, 128 ; kingdom of, 
221 ; made a Roman 
province, 254. 



R)roius Cato, M. .S'ee Cato. 

Porsgna, Lars, marches 
against Rome in aid of 
Tarquin, 32 ; bridge de- 
fended by Horalius Co- 
des, 32 ; C. Mucius 
Scaevola, 33 ; Cloelia 
swims across the Tiber, 
33 ; Porsena withdraws 
his army, 33. 

Praeneste surrenders, 230. 

Praetor Peregnnus, 143. 

Praetorian Guard, power 
of, 358. 

Praetors and Praetorship, 
62, 143. 

Principate, 320. 

Princeps, 520. - 

Prinmpes, 150, 151. 

Privernum, conquests of, 
69. 

Proconsuls, 6g, 143, 148. 

Propertius, Sextus Aure- 
lius (poet), 281. 

Propraetors, 143, 148. 

Proscriptio, what it was, 
193. 

Proscriptions, 230, 306. 

Provinces, Roman, 148, 
178, 254, 280. 

Provocatio, 147. 

Prusias, king of Bithynia, 
shelters Hannibal, 134, 
159 ; appears at Rome, 
165. 

Publilian Law (of Pub- 
lilius Volero), 38. 44. 

Publilian Laws (of Pub- 
lilius Philol, 62. 

Publicani. 145. 

Punic War, First, 84-94 ! 
Second, 101-127. 

Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, 
assists the Tarentines, 
76 ; defeats the Romans 
near Heraclea, 76 ; sends 
Cineas to negotiate a 
peace, 77 ; terms re- 
jected, 77 ; marches on 
Rome, 77 ; winter 
quarters at .Tarentum, 
78 ; embassy of Fabri- 
cius, 78 : proposal to 
poison Pyrrhus, 79 ; re- 
leases Roman prisoners 
without ransom, 79 ; 
crosses over into Sicily, 
79 ; is repulsed at Lily- 
baeum, 79 ; returns to 
Italy, 79 ; seizes the 
treasures of the temple 
of Persephone at Locri, 
80 ; hia remorse, 80 ; is 



380 



INDEX. 



defeated at Beneventum, 
80 ; returns to Greece 
and is slain, So. 



Quaestiones perpetuae, 

235- 

Quaestors and Quaestor- 
ship, 51, 142. 

Qulrites, 12. 



R. 

Ramnes, 17. 

Kasena, 3. 

Regillus, Lake, battle of, 

34- 

RSgulus, M. Atilius, de- 
feats the Carthaginians, 
89 ; is defeated by Xaii- 
thippus, 90; sent, as 
prisoner, with an em- 
bassy to Borne, 91 ; 
advises the Senate to 
reject the terms, 91 ; 
returns, and is put to 
death, 91. 

Remus and Romiilus, 10. 

Repetundae, 155, 188, 235. 

Republic established at 
Rome, 30; end of, 320. 

Rhea Silvia, legend of, 10. 

Rliodes, 129 ; school of 
rhetoric at, 256. 

Riclnier, Count, 368. 

Rngatio and Lex, 60. 

Roma Quadrata, n. 

Roman Literature, sketch 
of 322-337 ; Poetry ;— 
Saturnian Metre and the 
Drama, 322; M. Livius 
Andronicus, 323 ; Cn. 
Naevius, 323 ; Q. En- 
nius, 323 ; T. Maccius 
Plautus, 324 ; P. Teren- 
tius Afer, 3-25 ; Statius 
Caecilius, L. Afranius, 
325 ; M. Pacuvius, 325 ; 
L. Accius, 325; Atel- 
lanae Fabulae Mimes, 
326 ; 1). Laberius, P. 
Syrus, 326 ; Fescennine 
Songs. 326 ; Satires, 327 ; 
C. Lucilius, 327 ; T. Lu- 
cretius Carus, 327 ; Va- 
lerius Catullus, 328 ; P. 
Virgilius Maro, 328 ; Q. 
Horatius Flaccus, 330; 



Albius Tibullus, 332 ; 
Sextus Aurelius Proper- 
tius, 332 ; P. Ovidius 
Naso, 333. Prose Wri- 
ters — Q. Fabius Pictor, 
334 ; L. Cincius Alimen- 
tus, 334 ; M. Porcius 
Cato, 334 ; M. Tullius 
Cicero, 334; M. Teren- 
tius Varro, 335 ; C. Ju- 
lius Caesar, 336 ; C. Sal- 
lustius Crispus, 336 ; 
Cornelius Nepos, 336 ; 
Titus Livius, 336. 

Rome, situation and first 
inhabitants, 8 ; legends 
and early history, 9 ; 
first four kings, 11-16; 
last three kings, 16-28 ; 
foundation of, 11; de- 
stroyed by the Goths 
(Senones) under Bren- 
nus, 47 ; rebuilt, 48 ; 
pestilence at, 52 ; nre 
at, 350; sacked, 366, 367. 

Romiilus, birth of, 10; 
slays Remus, 11 ; rape 
of Sabine virgins, 11 ; 
war with Sabines, 12 ; 
reigns conjointly witii 
Titus Tatius, 12; suc- 
ceeds T. Tatius as ruler 
of the Sabines, and thus 
becomes sole ruler, 13; 
his disappearance, 13; 
institutions, 18. 

Romulus Augustulus, 368. 

Rupilius, P., captures 
Tauromenium and En- 
na, and ends the First 
Servile War. 177. 

Rutilius Rufus, found 
guilty, and banished, 
20,^. 

RutilTuj Lupus, P., Con- 
sul, 212 ; defeated and 
slain, 212. 



s. 

Sabellians, 5. 

Sabine virgins, rape of, 11. 

Sabines, s, 11 (note). 

Sacred Mount, first seces- 
sion to, 37 ; second se- 
cession, 47 

Saguntum captured, 99. 

Salli, priests of Mars, 14. 

Sallustius Crispus, C, 336. 

Salvius, leader of the 
slavei in Sicily, 204 ; 



assumes the surname ol 
Tryphon, 205. 
Samnites, 5, 65 ; conquer 
Campania and Lucania, 

65 ; attack the Sidicini 
and Campanians, 65 ; 
enter into war with the 
Romans, 66; are de- 
feated at Mount Gaurus, 

66 ; peace, 66 ; second 
or Great War with the 
Romans, 6q ; quarrel be- 
tween Q. Fabius Maxi- 
mus and L. Papirius 
Cursor, 69 ; Samnite ge- 
neral, C. Pontins, de- 
feats the Romans at 
the Caudine Forks, 70 ; 
treaty rejected by the 
Romans, 71 ; successes 
of the Romans, and 
peace, 71 ; th'rd war, 72 ; 
battle of Sentinum, 72 ; 
defeat, and peace, 72. 

Sardinia obtained from 
Carthage, and formed 
into a Roman province, 
96 ; revolt in, 140 ; Prae- 
tor for, 143. 

Satires, Roman, 327. 

Saturnian Metre, 322. 

Saturninus, elected Tri- 
bune, 207 ; brings in 
an Agrarian Law, 207 ; 
murders Memmius, 207 ; 
is declared a public 
enemy, 208 ; pelted to 
death with tiles by the 
mob, 208. 

Scipio, Cneius, in Spain, 
114; slain there, 116. 

Scipio, P. Cornelius, 
marches to oppose Han- 
nibal, 103; killed in 
Spain, 116. 

Scipio Africanus Major, P. 
Cornelius, his early lile, 
120 ; elected Proconsul, 
and goes to Spain, 121 ; 
captures New Carthage, 
121 ; defeats Hasdrubal. 
122 ; master of nearly 
all Spain, by another 
victory, 122 ; crosses 
over to Africa, 122 ; 
quells insurrection and 
mutiny in Spain, 123 ; 
captures Gades, 123 ; 
returns to Rome, and 
is elected Consul, 123; 
passes over to Sicily, 
and thence to Africa, 
124 ; besieges Utica, 



INDEX. 



381 



124 ; is opposed by Has- 
drubal and Syphax, 
whom he defeats, 125 ; 
defeats Hannibal near 
Zama, 126 ; prosecuted, 
158 ; retires from Rome, 
159 ; death, 159. 

Sciplo Africanus Minor, 
169 ; captures and de- 
stroys Carthage, 170, 
171 ; sent to Spain, 175 ; 
opposes Ti. Gracchus, 
185 ; found dead in his 
room, 185. 

Scipio, L. Cornelius (Asia- 
ticus), appointed to the 
command against Anti- 
ochus, who had invaded 
the kingdom of Perga- 
.mus, 134 ; defeats Anti- 
ochus near Magnesia, 
and returns to Rome, 
134 ; pi'osecution of, 158. 

Scipio Nas ca, P. Corne- 
lius, subdues the Boii, 

138. 

Sejanus, Aelius, mtngues 
of, 346 ; causes banish- 
ment of Agrppina, 346 ; 
condemnation and exe- 
cution, 347. 

Sempronian Laws, 187. 

Senators bribed by Jugur- 
tha found guilty by a 
commission, 196. 

Senate, 18, 145. 

Stnatus Consaltum, 146. 

Senones, 3, 55. 

Septimius Severus, 358. 

Sertorius, Q., in Spain, 
238 ; is opposed to Pom- 
pey, 240 ; assassinated 
by Perperna, 240. 

Servile War in Sicily, 
first, 177 ; second, sup- 
pressed by M'. Aquil- 
lius, 204. 

Serviltus, Q., murdered, 
211. 

Servius Tullius, succeeds 
Tarquinius Prisons, 22 ; 
reforms the constitution, 
and divides the terri- 
tory, 23 ; increases the 
city, and surrounds it 
with a wall, 25 ; forms 
an alliance with the 
Latins, 26 ; his death, 
26 ; his two daughters, 
26. 

Seven hills of Rome, 25. 

Sextlus, L., first Plebeian 
Consul, 61. 



Sicily, invaded by the Ro- 
mans, 86 ; made subject 
to the Romans, except 
Syracuse, 94 ; Praetor 
for, 143. 

Sicinius Dentatus slain, 46. 

Sidiclni, 65. 

Slaves, under the Romans, 
155, 161, 177, 179. 

Social War, or Marsic 
War, 211-214. 

SScii, or Allies, 81 ; troops, 
furnished by, 150. 

Sociorum Praefecti, 150. 

Soli, afterwards Pompeio- 
polis, occupied by pi- 
rates, 250. 

Spain, in two provinces, 
139 : praetors for, 143. 

Spanish wars, 139, 140, 
173-176, 340- 

Sparta, 129. 

Spartacus, a gladiator, ex- 
cites an insurrection of 
slaves, 241 ; devastates 
Italy wit 1 a large army 
of slaves, 241 ; defeated 
by Crassus, 241 ; slain 
in battle, 241. 

Spolia oplvia, 12, 52, 98. 

Stilicho, 365. 

Suffetes, 85. 

Sulla, C. Cornelius, early 
life and character, igg ; 
Quaestor with Marius 
in Africa, 200 ; gains 
over Bocchus, and en- 
traps and makes a pri- 
soner of Fugurtha, 199 ; 
in Social War, 213 ; 
Consul, 215 ; rivalry 
with Marius, 216 ; enters 
Rome with his army, 
and takes possession of 
the city, 217 ; leaves 
Rome for the East, 219 ; 
plunders Athens, 224; 
victory at Orchomenus, 
224 ; makes peace with 
Mithridates, 225 ; over- 
comes Fimbria, 225 ; de- 
feats the younger Ma- 
rius, and enters Rome, 
229 ; battle with the 
Samnites and Lucanians 
for the possession of 
Rome, 229 ; their defeat, 
229 ; elected Dictator, 
231 ; his massacres and 
proscriptions, 230 ; elec- 
ted Consul, 231 ; his 
Triumph, and assumed 
title of Felix, 231 ; bis 



military colonies, 232 ; 
his reforms, 233-236 ; 
resignation of Dictator- 
ship, retirement and 
death, 232, 233. 

Sulpicius Rufus, P., sells 
himself to Marius, 216; 
put to death, 217. 

Supplicdtio, 152. 

Synorium, fortress of, 
251. 

Syphax, at war with Car- 
thage, 115; is visited by 
Scipio, but, falling in 
love with Sophonisba, 
daughter of Hasdrubal, 
becomes an ally of the 
Carthaginians, 123 ; de- 
feated by Scipio and Ma- 
sinissa, and flies into 
Numidia, 125 ; is pur- 
sued and taken prisoner 
by Laeliiis and Masi- 
nissa, 125. 

Syracuse captured by Mar- 
cellus, 114. 

Syria, condition of, 128 ; 
made a Roman province, 

254- 
Syrus, P., 326. 



Tacfarinas, war against, 
346 ; defeat of, 346. 

Tarentum, 7, 74, 75 ; cap- 
tured, 80 ; betrayed to 
Hannibal, 112; retaken 
by Rome, 117. 

Tarpela, 12. 

Tarquinius Priscus, Lu- 
cius, his birth and de- 
scent, 20; elected fifth 
king of Home, 21 ; de- 
feats the Sabines and 
captures Collatia, 21 ; 
takes also many Latin 
towns, and becomes 
ruler of all Latium, 21 ; 
constructs the cloacae, 
2T ; lays out the Circus 
Maximus, and institutes 
the games of the Circus, 
21 ; increases the Senate 
and the Vestal Virgins, 
21 ; appoints Servius 
Tullius his successor 
21 ; his reign and death, 
22. 

Tarquinius Superbus, Lu- 
cius, succeeds Servius 

2b 



382 



INDEX. 



Tullius, 27 ; his tyranny, 
27 ; alliance with the 
Latins, 27 ; war with the 
Volscians, 27 ; founds 
the temple named the 
Capitollum, 28 ; pur- 
chases the threj Sybil- 
line books, 28 ; attacks 
and captures Gabii, 28 ; 
sends to consult the 
oracle at Delphi, 28 ; 
besieges Ardea, 29; Lu- 
cretia ravished by Sex- 
tus Tarquinius. 30 ; 
death of Lucretia, 30 ; 
Tarquin is expelled 
from Rome with his 
sons, 30 ; attempts to 
regain the throne, 31 ; 
his Etruscan allies de- 
feated, 31 ; assisted by 
the Latins, 33 ; their 
defeat, 34 ; Tarquin dies 
at Cumae, 34. 

Terentlus Afer, P.. 325 

Teutones and Ambrones 
enter France, in march 
for Italy, 203 ; defeated 
by Marius, 203. 

Theodosius I., 364. 

Thurii, 7, 74 

Tiberius Claudius Nero, 
engaged with Drusus in 

■ northern wars, 343 ; re- 
duces Pannonia, 343 ; 
returns to Germany, 
343; adopted by Au- 
gustus, 344 ; succeeds 
Augustus, 344 ; rebel- 
liotis armies in Pannonia 
and Germany pacified, 
345 ; countenances the 
delatores, 346 ; leaves 
Rome and retires to 
Capreae, 346 ; his ex- 
cesses and character, 
347 ; his death, 347. 

TibuUus, AlbTus (poet), 

335- 

Tigranes, kingof Armenia, 
receives his father-in- 
law Mithridates, 246 ; 
defeated by Lucullus at 
Tigranocerta, 247 ; acts 
in concert with Mithri- 
dates, 247 ; submits to 
Pompey, 252. 

Tigranes the younger re- 
volts against his father, 
252 ; brought to Rome 
as a prisoner, 252. 

Titles 17. 

Titus, succeeds his father 



Vespasiim, 352 ; his 
reckless expenditure, 
352 ; dedicates the Coli- 
seum, 353 ; his death, 
353. 

Trajanus, M. Ulpius, his 
campaigns in Germany, 
354 ; comes to Rome, 
354 ; his conquest of 
Dacia, 354 ; receives the 
title of Dacicus, 354 ; 
again sets out for Dacia, 
354 ; returns to Rome, 
and celebrates a triumph, 
354 ; his financial suc- 
cess, 355 ; builds the 
Forum Ulpianum, 355 ; 
declares war on Chosroes, 
and leaves for the East, 
355 ; deposes the Ar- 
menian kiug, 355 ; nar- 
rowly escapes death in 
great earthquake, 355 ; 
receives title of Parthi- 
cus, 355 ; dies on home- 
ward journey, 355. 

Trasimenus, Lake, Roman 
army destroyed at, 105. 

Triarii, 149. 

Triarius, defeated by Mith- 
ridates, 248. 

Tribes, patrician, 17; of 
Servius Tullius, 23 ; the 
thirty-five tribes, 96 ; 
assemblies of the, 147. 

Tribunate, degraded by 
Sulla's laws, 197. 

Tribunes, 37. 

Tributum, a property-tax, 
147. 

Triumph, the general s, 
152. 

Triumvirate, First, 268 ; 
Second, 306. 

Triumviri visit Greece to 
inquire into the laws, 
44. 

Tullianum (dungeon), 263. 

TuUus Hostilius, elected 
to succeed Numa, 14 ; 
battle of the Horatii and 
Curiatii, 14 ; conquers 
the Albans, 15 ; con- 
quers the Etruscans, 15; 
punishes Mettius Fuf- 
fetius, 15 ; destroys Alba 
Louga, and removes in- 
habitants to Rome, 15 ; 
his reign and death, 15. 

Twrmae, 150. 

Twelve Tables, 48. 



Umbria, 5. 

Umbrians, in league with 

the Etruscans, 72. 
Umbro-Sabellians, 4, 5. 



Vadinio, Lake, 74. 

Valens, Fabius, general of 
Vitellius' army, 351. 

Valens, emperor, 363, 364. 

Valentinian, 363. 

Valerian and Horatian 
Laws, 48. 

Valerius Corvus, M., 59. 

Valerius Publicola, 32. 
j Vandals, 365-367. 

Varro, M. Terentius, 290, 
335- 

Varus, P. Quintilius, de- 
feated by Arminius, 343. 
Vectigdlia, 148. 

Veii besieged, 53 ; Alban 
Lake, 53 ; city captured, 

_53- 
I VelUes, 150. 

Veneti of Italy, 3; of Gaul, 
defeated by Caesar, 275. 

Ventidius, Tribune and 
Consul, 314; his success- 
ful wars against the Par- 
tbians, 314. 

Vercingetorix defeated and 
taken prisoner, 279. 

Vergilius Maro, P., 328. 

Vespasianus, T. Flavins, 
his conquest of the Isle 
of Wight and southern 
Britain, 351 ; proclaimed 
emperor at Alexandria, 
351 ; comes to Rome, 
352 ; renews operations 
against the Jews, 352 ; 
makes Judaea a Roman 
province, 352; retrenches 
expenditure, 352 ; his 
extension of ynpire, 352 ; 
repels Parthian inva- 
sion, 352 ; continues 
conquest of Britain, 352 ; 
his death, 352. 

Vestal Virgins, 14, 21. 

Ve.stini, 5. 

Vesuvius, great eruption 
of. 352- 

Veto of the Tribunes, 37, 
147. 



INDEX. 



383 



Vexilldrms, 149. 

Via Aemilia, Appia, Fla- 
minia, 82, 138, 145. 

Vindex, Julius, Gallic re- 
volt under, 350. 

Viriathus, 174; assassi- 
nated, 175. 

Visigoths, invasions of, 
365, 366. 

Vitellius, A., hailed as 



imperator in lower Ger- 
many, 351 ; his army 
successful, 351 ; comes 
to Rome as emperor, 
351 ; opposition to him 
in the East, 351 ; his 
defeat by Primus, 351 ; 
and death, 351. 

Volscians, 5. 

Voltureius, T., 263. 



Xanthippus, 90. 



Z. 

Zenobia, 359. 




Coin of Augustus. 



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